The Prison of the Soul
by Gallowmere
Summary: [Sequel to DSOD and gift fic for a friend] Breaking into another dimension wasn't something you did every day. Final chapter up! Please R & R! [COMPLETE]
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Seto squinted as the gold light around the pod faded and his ride started to judder as it came to a stop. He blinked, trying to see through the stinging in his eyes and out the window. The sense of calm resolution he had had when first booting up the pod was giving way. His heart started to race as the golden light evaporated into a blank white canvas outside his window. He breathed heavily, checking all of his vitals. Everything was sound. Everything was stable. He pressed a hand to the window, found it cold to the touch. Should he risk opening the pod? Should he-

A tiny spot of gold appeared. Then more, like watercolours spreading across the featureless white. A brilliant blue was next, the colour of a hot summer's day sky. The gold became stretches of sand, then turned into the mighty rise and fall of dunes in a desert. He realised the pod was still moving, listing slowly and then drifting around broadside until it came to a gentle stop. Seto braced a hand on the side anyway, not quite able to trust there wouldn't be a sudden jolt or last-second disaster. But the pod just ran up against a sand bank and drifted to a stop, safe. As Seto dropped back into his seat he saw uneven smudges left on the glass by his shaking fingers.

He chuckled. What a stupid thing. Even with all his calculations, all his epiphanies about this new science and what it entailed, he was feeling something as _pedestrian_ as nervousness. Well, why not. Breaking into another dimension wasn't something you did every day. Seto Kaiba gave himself a moment to lean back into his seat and take a long, deep breath. It was the only sound around, because the desert was quiet. Too quiet. It occurred to him then, listening to the total lack of anything surrounding him: it had been six months since he'd just stopped and breathed. All he'd done in that time was work, sleep, eat, work, the occasional power nap or break with Mokuba, work… he hadn't stopped, not once in all that time.

A wicked grin curved his lips. A Kaiba didn't stop, not until he was cold in the ground. He doubted the Pharaoh had either.

Seto arranged his trip items in the pod: several bottles of water, a few snacks and spare cards. The food and water could stay here but he stuffed the spare cards into his pockets just in case. Even with his technology taking the legwork out of building a deck, he didn't doubt Atem would prefer physical cards if they were available. Normally he'd be dismissive of such mindless sentimentalism, but now it just felt like another of Atem's stupid little quirks. He could put up with it, if it meant getting the rematch he was due.

Next he checked the pod's environment scanner. It was detecting nothing unusual, so with any luck he wouldn't drop dead the moment he stepped outside.

The only other thing he took was the translator he'd been working on. It had taken greasing the palms of more than one linguistic specialist, but he was reasonably confident it might be able to handle ancient as well as modern Egyptian. He couldn't begin to guess what he'd find out there, but it was best to be prepared.

He fitted the chip into his duel disk earpiece, and with the preparation done, leant over and clicked the pod door open. The air was breathable. A good start. Or at least, his tech was doing its job in sustaining him.

As soon as he reached outside, though, something odd happened. A pins and needles feeling came over him, odd little particles raising from his skin. If his suspicions were right about what Diva had been showboating about, he needed to find Atem, and quick. He took a deep breath and jumped from the pod, landing on the sand without disintegrating. Kaiba stood stock still for a moment, half expecting to be struck down by some divine force for altering the laws of the universe as everyone understood them.

Nothing happened.

He smirked. Then the smirk turned into a laugh. Then he reached down, grabbed a clump of sand in his fist and threw it into the air. This was real. He was here.

He started to walk, the elated bounce in his step hampered by the sand shifting beneath him. It gave suddenly and he went sliding down a large bank onto a small hill. Kaiba tried to recover his balance and failed miserably, getting sand all down his new coat. He grumbled to himself, falling forward when he tried to get up. Thankfully the ground here was more tightly packed, more solid… and led to a cliff edge. And there was something other than the sound of dust blowing – there were _voices. _

Kaiba scrambled to get up, almost falling again – and it came into view.

An ancient, living capital.

Kaiba stood and stared. For the first time he actually wanted to pinch himself. Instead he stared hard, not daring to let himself blink as he tried to take in every detail of what he saw before him. An exact replica of an Egyptian city, a bustling capital no less where the one back in his dimension had probably long since been abandoned. People walked the streets, some on foot and others on horseback, still busy even though there was surely nothing left to be worried about if this was truly Aaru. The sky rippled with what looked like a reflection of the city below, as though the sky was really the surface of water, but when he looked directly at it the image slipped away into just a regular heat haze.

But it was the building towering above everything else that caught his attention – a tall building, colourful compared to the rest, guarded by huge statues intimidating even from this distance.

The palace. His destination.

Kaiba gave shook himself out of his gawping stupor and headed down towards the streets. The worsening pins and needles feeling told him he had no time to waste. He brushed his arm, trying to shake it off, and flakes came off in his hand. He looked down at the dust in his palm. It was so fine it slipped off his hand when he tried to touch it. Experimentally he ran a hand down his sleeve and the black dust sloughed off his body like water.

He shook his hand to get rid of it. He was committed now. All there was left to do was find the Pharaoh.

He took the main path since it was the most direct, but this led him straight through a busy market street. The people stopped and stared, looking at him uncertainly. Only the children were unafraid, pointing at his attire and laughing with their friends. Kaiba just settled for nodding in what he hoped was a friendly greeting. He hadn't thought to read up on the cues to this time period, so he couldn't afford to get himself into bother before he could find the king. Luckily the palace was visible from down in the streets so he didn't even need to worry about getting lost.

It was a breath-taking sight all by itself. It was as high as a church, and every inch was decorated in brightly coloured murals or a twining fruit and leaf motif. Two pharaonic statues stood guard over the gates, and far below an array of guards were watching him intently. He headed straight for them.

But before he could even say a word to introduce himself, one of them stepped forward and bowed his head. "Seto Kaiba?" he asked.

Kaiba nodded.

He turned and called up to the guard tower. A guard called back down and there was what Kaiba could only assume was an argument between them in rapid-fire Egyptian, so fast his translator couldn't begin to keep up with it. After a bit of back and forth between them, the gates were opened with a mighty rumble, a huge corridor filled with light stretching out before him.

The guard gestured for him to follow. Kaiba shook his head. "I can find the way myself," he said, enunciating each word and trying to gesture what he meant. "I do – not – need – an escort. I came – to – see – Atem."

He saw them understand _Atem _well enough – looks of annoyance and disgust passed over the guards faces, followed by an angry barrage of Egyptian between them. Kaiba cursed himself – he'd read about Ancient Egypt, he _knew _calling the monarch by first name was a taboo in most movies, let alone in this time period – but there was nothing he could do about it now. Stupid. Stupid mistake.

The first guard pushed the others back, saying something quickly that he was sure included the word _Pharaoh. _The others fell silent. Then the guard turned back to Kaiba, gesturing angrily for him to follow. Kaiba didn't protest that time.

He was led down the huge corridor. The ceiling towered many feet overhead but there were gaps everywhere to let in floods of light across the floor, and yet the air inside was much cooler. Kaiba had done some research when he could spare the time about Ancient Egypt, more out of idle curiosity than anything else, but nothing could have prepared him for how lustrous it was. Everywhere were brilliant paints lining the walls, vibrant blues and reds and greens, gods clinging to pillars and paintings as far as the eye could see.

The guard cleared his throat. He was standing in a large doorway up ahead, a painting of the eye of Horus surrounded by falcon wings crowning the ceiling. A tremor ran down Kaiba's arm to his fingertips and he clenched his fist involuntarily. He took a moment at the doors, straightening his back and raising his head, before walking on.

Kaiba Seto passed the threshold.

Light shone into the room, probably from more skylights up above. It hit the far end of the room, in the centre. The pillars in the room too, built a perfect distance apart, drew his eye to the same spot… the spot where a long, golden-white throne reached high up to the ceiling. Seto squinted, willed his eyes to adjust.

Someone was sitting on that throne. A small figure, garbed in white linen and flashes of gold, and the Millennium Puzzle glinting in his lap. It caught the light even more as the man pressed his hands against the golden rests of the throne and slowly stood. His cape flared out behind him as he did so, coming to rest against tanned skin and yet more gold. Seto's eyes started to adjust and the king's face started to come into view. Seto had a last minute thought: what would Atem think of him hacking his way into this dimension, chasing him past death as all the others seemed to think…

Too late to worry now. Kaiba held his arm out, using the inbuilt gesture to activate his duel disk. Actions suited him better than any words word.

Those red, wild eyes with their sharp focus, met his own.

And then Atem smiled. Not smiled. _Smirked. _

Kaiba smirked right back at him, letting a small 'hmph' pass his lips. He was a fool to have expected anything else. Anyone evicted to a dimension like _this _was obviously in dire need of a challenge.

Atem descended the dais and approached him. Kaiba noticed with some surprise that Yugi must have overtaken him in height – the monarch was barely over five feet, if he had to estimate – but there was an assurance to his posture that disguised it that Yugi had never had. It had been one of the most obvious tells of the two switching, if he couldn't see the challenging eyes. Yet another thing that he looked back on differently, now that he knew the royal training that came with it.

Before Atem could speak he reached into his coat and undid the clasps around the other duel disk. He tossed it to Atem who caught it without missing a beat. He looked pleased and didn't even ask for an explanation. Kaiba let himself smile; just a small one, since he was never going to allow himself to get a reputation for it.

"You made me wait a long time for this," Seto said, as Atem turned the new model duel disk over in his hands, appreciating each point of the design. His fingers went to the physical slot for the cards, feeling the empty space where a deck should have been. There was no real need for a physical card holder, not in the digital age, but he knew his rival was prone to mindless sentimentalism, so he had kept one in. "You had better make this worth my while."

"You could expect no less, Kaiba," Atem said in fluent Japanese. "If I had some cards to use."

"What?" Kaiba was momentarily wrong-footed. Everything he had thought of…except the cards themselves. But he recovered quickly. "You _have _cards to use. That new duel disk is state-of-the-art technology – it calls to the satellite and allows you to _build _a deck."

"Hmm." Atem examined it again, an unfathomable look on his face. Kaiba couldn't tell if he was favouring amusement or ambivalence. Atem put the disk on anyway, sliding off a gold bangle so that he could click it into place on his arm. He managed to turn it on without assistance, and Kaiba maintained a duel field's worth of distance between them. It looked as though his tech didn't befuddle Atem – but then why would it? Atem remembered him, he remembered everything about the modern world. As it should be.

Atem navigated a few settings with his fingers, then stopped. He tried it again. " 'No signal'", he said.

"What?"

"No signal," he repeated, messing with something else on the display. Kaiba stared at him. Atem tried something else, but there another ugly red message popped up.

"You have to be kidding-" Kaiba marched across the room and grabbed Atem's arm so he could see for himself. _NO SIGNAL _flashed in bold letters across the screen, with a helpful little icon showing the failure to communicate with the crystal cloud. His stomach dropped and he brought up the settings, testing other ways to connect. Nothing worked. He frantically tried elsewhere, looking for any cards stored in local, offline memory.

There were none. His own disk had several different decks stored locally so he could play around with different combinations in his off hours, but Atem's duel disk had barely been used. He'd been forced to allow Yugi to use it, but he had discarded those settings after the tournament. Kaiba growled, going back to the settings screen even though he knew it was hopeless. The satellite just wasn't talking dimensions to the disk. "Damn it," Kaiba muttered, raking a hand through his hair. "Damn it, this can't…"

Atem had been watching him, expressionless. "Kaiba."

"One second, I just have to…"

"_Kaiba."_

Kaiba stopped and looked down at him. Up close, his unfamiliar African features were more obvious. Kaiba hadn't noticed it before because that laser focus in his eyes so unmistakeably belonged to his rival. Those red eyes stared back, a hint of worry in them. "You _did_ build yourself a way to get home, right?"

"Of course I did. The same way I got here."

"Which was?"

Seto cursed; he knew then that Atem did not plan to let this one go. "A dimensional canon. My theory was flawless, otherwise I would never have gotten here in the first place."

The Pharaoh looked unimpressed by his ability to quite literally rip through the veil of life and death. He said only, "Then we need to check if you have the signal you need to get back."

All of Kaiba's grumbling that he had just got here fell on deaf ears with Atem, who asked only if he could ride and then led him to a stables in the back of the palace, selecting a pair of horses for them both and leading the way through the city. Kaiba hadn't been on a horse in years, though of course he had been forced to learn as a child.

He noticed Atem watching him. The Pharaoh's grip on the reins suggested total ease with being on horseback. "You're not a fan of riding," he said.

Kaiba grunted. Typical Atem, giving him a statement and not a question. "It's a pretentious activity the rich pretend to enjoy."

"And chess is not?"

"Games are different," he said, giving him a look, "You should know that."

Atem just gave him that smirk, catching Kaiba off guard enough that he actually smiled back before the moment was suddenly broken by Atem pulling his horse to an abrupt stop.

A small child had darted out into their path, and not by accident either – he was smiling up at Atem with the broadest beam on his face. Atem dismounted quickly, his shoulders tense, but he relaxed as soon as he saw the child was unhurt.

"That was very dangerous, young man," Atem said, kneeling down to his level. "You could have been hurt."

The child didn't look particularly guilty though. He turned back to his house and called, "The Horakhtian!"

A second later a woman rushed out the door. She quickly sized up what had happened and pulled her excited son behind her before falling to her knees and exclaiming, "Your pardon, Your Grace!"

The boy pointed again, muttering the strange word directly into his mother's ear in a barely contained, excitable little whisper. She turned to him, about to chastise him when Atem intervened. He looked as calm as ever when he took the woman's arm and encouraged her to her feet.

"Not at all," he said. "Just tell your son to be careful not to get himself trampled underneath a horse's hooves next time. I wouldn't want to see such promise tarnished."

"That's all right, Your Highness!" the boy piped up. "No one really gets hurt _here_."

His mother gave her son a despairing look and pulled him behind her, getting out a barely audible thank you to Atem. Before she turned to go, she noticed Seto. An odd look of recognition came over her before she bowed her head to him too, then more deeply again to Atem, before she steered the both of them back inside.

"I never heard that title before," Kaiba said to Atem as he remounted his horse.

"Not now," he said, checking the street to see if they had attracted anyone else's attention. They rode on, Atem spurring his horse down a quieter road close to the river. They still passed by other Egyptians, most of whom smiled and waved at the Pharaoh. He greeted them in return, but otherwise spoke little, his attention on their destination. Kaiba had expected some posturing about responsibility, or taking care of himself, not this calm silence. It actually bored him a little, so he entertained himself by trying to estimate the net value of all the gold Atem was wearing. The lapis lazuli earrings were a pricey touch, too. He coughed and looked away when Atem caught him staring.

Atem slowed his horse when they left the city, noting his horse struggling in the sand. "Kaiba, did you… _park_ far from here?"

Kaiba nearly laughed, imaging his dimension crossing pod with a Kaiba Corporation taxi logo on the side. "Within walking distance."

"Good." Atem dismounted again, leading his horse to a fence to tie him there and petting his nose before waiting for Kaiba to do the same. Kaiba dismounted, looking down on the tiny king standing there and giving him a look of haughty impatience. At least some things never changed.

"This way, Your Shortness."

Atem fell into step with him, doing an admirable job keeping up with his short legs even in the sand. "I could have your head taken off for that."

"Oh, really? Can someone die twice in this realm?"

Atem didn't answer at first as they had come to a higher dune that needed mastering, and Kaiba was starting to think he wasn't going to when he suddenly said, "Yes. The boy with the horse back there would have been hurt if I had hit him."

"Go on."

"Spirits _can _die, Kaiba. But rather than any physical wound, it happens in terms of losing parts of _yourself. _If no other wound occurs, you can stop yourself fading and become whole again, but if too many happen in too soon a time…" He reached down and took a fistful of sand, then released it to the wind. A lot vanished at once, then the stragglers were lost to the wind, leaving nothing behind.

"What about sleeping? Do you do that?"

He shrugged. "We have something akin to it, for restoring ourselves. If I was taxed playing a dark game back when I was – back in Domino, I would rest for awhile to regroup my spirit."

Seto remembered what Sera had said about Duel Links assembling the consciousness of Duelists: 'If there was an individual with a superior consciousness that transcends human wisdom in the mix…' He had assumed Atem's would be distinctive, easy to find because of what he was. "Then this world is just everyone's consciousnesses given form?" he asked. "And the bridge between it is recognition of the signature of an individual?"

"In theory. I was able to help Jo – help stop Aigami because people in your world respond to my power. But it goes without saying that under normal circumstances, individuals from the Second Intermediate period have no reason to know the citizens of modern day Japan."

Kaiba gave him a look, feeling something was off and not being able to put his finger on it. It would have to wait, though, since they had made it back to the pod. Atem actually chuckled when he saw it. "Are there _any _safety precautions in this design?"

Kaiba raised his an eyebrow and indicated the seatbelt. Atem rolled his eyes and hoisted himself to up to look into the cockpit.

"I suppose I can't judge too harshly when Osiris has no seatbelts."

Kaiba startled. He wasn't talking about _actually riding _Osiris the dragon of heaven, was he? And what the hell would that even look like? Was the Egyptian God still 60 foot long and the size of a jumbo jet? Atem looked up, bemused. "Kaiba, are you going to help me with this?"

Kaiba snapped to attention and went to the opposite side of the pod, climbing in and powering it up. He ran through all the start up procedures to get the pod to talk back to its point of origin, and then the message flashed: _NO SIGNAL._

Kaiba tried it again, only for the same message to display.

Atem was watching him follow through the steps, an increasingly alarmed look on his face. And then he muttered something in Egyptian that sounded distinctly like a swear.

No matter how much Kaiba insisted this was something he could fix, Atem would not be calmed. He spent some time rapid fire muttering to himself in Egyptian, the heavy whip of fabric following as his cape twisted to keep up. Finally he stopped and said, "With me, Kaiba. We have to fix this."

"Do you talk to your subordinates like that?"

"Kaiba, this is serious! Do you realise what could happen if you end up stranded here? That tech on your arm, how does it –"

"First of all, calm. Down. This is entirely fixable. I just have to adjust some parameters, and – where are you going?"

Atem was walking back to the horses, not stopping to wait for him. "To the palace. I don't advise trying to brainstorm a fix for this out in the full sun, in a tiny pod with glass to magnify the heat."

Kaiba couldn't really feel the heat of the sun that intensely but he followed Atem anyway. "What about the pod?"

"A team will be sent out to it and it will be dragged to the palace where we can work on it more easily."

He looked back at his pod where it sat half sunk into the sand. "You had better tell them how much it costed."

Atem actually laughed before he caught himself. "My men are used to moving items that cost twice what that contraption does. There won't be so much as a scratch on the paintwork."

"Oh, really? Leave it to you to have such a tight grip –" Kaiba stopped himself, suddenly, unexpectedly. Atem looked over his shoulder and a charged look passed between them. He looked away suddenly, an odd guilty feeling coming over him.

Neither of them picked the banter back up as they headed back to the palace.

They took an even more convoluted route back that avoided most of the major roads and any and all market squares. Atem led the way, obviously practised in this route by the ease of his navigation around the dim alleys and back streets.

Kaiba cleared his throat. "They have you on a pretty loose leash, don't they?"

Atem raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware I was on a leash at all."

"Not what I meant, _Your Highness." _He gestured to their surroundings. "You just get done telling me that you can still die here, but you have no escort but myself to take you through the entire city and back?"

Atem _hmph-_ed at him. "This is _my_ city, and I'm more than capable of handling myself. I remembered doing much the same thing when I was still alive."

"I bet your guards loved that," he said, rolling his eyes. But secretly he was thinking: _of course you are. Of course you did. _

They reached the palace much quicker on the return journey and headed to some side entrance Kaiba hadn't spotted before, through a garden and straight to the stables. A man was standing there in long robes with a fancy hat. He reminded Kaiba of someone, though he couldn't say who. His look turned sharp when he spotted Kaiba, but then he ignored him totally and knelt before Atem.

"I am relieved to see your safe return, Pharaoh."

Atem shook his head and laid a hand on the man's shoulder. "How many times, Mahad? You don't need to do any of this every time I go somewhere… or any time you see me, come to think of it."

Mahad rose to his feet. "Given recent events, my King, permit me some relief when I see you returned safe." He looked at Kaiba again, and quickly away. Atem spotted it and awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Allow me to introduce you. Priest Mahad, this is –"

"Yes, I know who he is," he said, looking him over. He wasn't as tall as Seto but Seto could've sworn the priest was trying his best to look down his nose at him. "Pardon the interruption, my Pharaoh, but I trust you have found a way to send him home?"

"There is a way," Atem said. "It requires…adjustment."

"Then allow me to assist-"

"I am not leaving until I get the duel I was promised," Seto interrupted. He folded his arms and glared at Mahad. "And I am not about to be shooed out the door by some _lackey_."

Mahad's eyes flashed and his hand clenched into a fist and he started towards Seto but Atem seized his arm. "Wait, Mahad. Please. He – he hasn't realised –"

"Realised _what?_" Kaiba snapped.

"Kaiba, you… you need to eat. There is no _food_ here. There is water in the river, but you can't drink it." He gestured to the device on Kaiba's arm. "That device may sustain you, but there is nothing else here that will. You are still flesh and blood, what sustains a spirit will not keep you alive. And I… I don't know what will happen to you, if you don't…"

Kaiba rubbed his temples. So that was the problem. "All right. I understand. You don't need to panic; the pod will be fixable."

"It had better be," Mahad said, folding his arms. "What would happen if the first living human to make it here were to expire within days under the Pharaoh's watch?" Then he turned to the Pharaoh, adding, "I trust you will want to assist this interloper in returning home. I will cover you for any engagements you may miss. If you need my assistance at any time, please call for me."

The Pharaoh thanked him as he bowed again, then Mahad gave Kaiba one last hard look before turning and walking off. Kaiba glared after him, long enough that he caught sight of an odd ripple of light across the man's entire form, the same that he would see in his own holograms when his Solid Vision system was still in its infancy. Then he rubbed his eyes and it was gone.

"Are your men always this welcoming?" Kaiba grumbled. Atem just gave him a look.

"You know… never mind. Let's go. I still have duties to attend to once we get this fixed."

It was Kaiba's turn to give him an irritated look, which he completely missed. Typical. "So where have your men oh so skilfully dragged my highly expensive machinery to?"

The Pharaoh thought for a moment. "The courtyard. Probably."

It turned out Atem was right, the pod _was_ in the courtyard. It was a beautiful area, really, a large space shaded with palms with a fountain in the centre. Atem sat on its edge, trailing his fingers through the water for a moment. Then he reached into his golden waistband and retrieved something – a tiny piece of chalk.

"Do you carry that with you all the time?" Kaiba asked, confused.

"It serves me for incantations. Now," he said, and leant down to sketch on the stone pavers, "You are in Aaru. There are most likely more scientific ways to refer to it, but it will do. And you need to find your way back to your own dimension. And you got here by using your technology to elevate your pod to being on the same – let's call it _frequency – _as this dimension." As he spoke, he made notes in hieratic. "Is that about right?"

Kaiba blinked. A magic laden explanation was par for the course with Atem, but one he could actually understand _and_ that was more or less exactly how his machine worked? That was… a little bit more surprising.

"Uh, yeah. Of course."

"But you're getting no signal here, because your machine can't find the Kaiba Corp – mainframe, satellite?"

"Both, but let's say satellite."

"-satellite to talk to. So how was the exit procedure supposed to work?"

"In the Duel Links world, we take someone's brain signals and convert that to a duelist's strength. Sera explained to me that the concept for this dimension is the same – there is a net of signals, of people's consciousnesses, and it is the power of the consciousness that makes a signal stronger."

Atem nodded, stopping his writing to listen.

"Those children – the Plana, you probably noticed all the trouble they caused – had some kind of magic that raised their consciousness to cross dimensions. She told me that if I were in sync with a superior consciousness, I would be able to contact the Netherworld." He looked Atem dead in the eye. "I knew she was talking about you."

Atem leant back, setting his chalk down. A complex expression came over his face, but he said nothing.

"And then I saw the Plana crossing dimensions, their power acting like a bridge. All I had to do was gather those neurons, those consciousnesses reaching out for one point, and I would be able to reach the higher dimension. And I almost did, but using myself only was taxing my brain's natural limits too much." Kaiba circled the pod, running a hand around the outsides. "Eventually I realised I didn't need to do any of that. I have an entire city of people whose brainwaves are connected to Kaiba Corp tech already. With their neurons I could create a combined frequency and elevate the pod to the next dimension." He chuckled, which turned into a satisfied laugh. "Sounds like science fiction, doesn't it? But even magic can be explained with enough understanding – someday your dimension too will be about as foreign to Japan as China!"

Atem didn't so much as smirk at his assertion. "Is that so?" He shut his eyes and let his head tip back, the large golden earrings tipping back with him. Eventually he sat back upright and stood. "All right. I think I know a way that we can achieve the same result. We can do the same thing with–" He stopped, looking suddenly sheepish, "Well, sorcery."

"How?"

"You said the Plana were reaching towards me with their power. That I was the point of focus around which they were crossing dimensions. The prophecy that my return would effectively end their powers referred to that: if I were to cross dimensions, the fixed point that made the bridge – my presence in Aaru – would no longer be fixed, and their powers would be gone. Or, at least… in theory." He looked pensive. "Anyway, the same principle should apply in reverse. We send someone across the divide to act as an anchor. Everyone here forms a mental connection with them and we use that to power your machine. Then you should be able to cross back."

"All right… but who are we using? Crossing the divide is the problem in the first place."

Atem looked uncomfortable. "No. Not for everyone."

"Then who-?" Then the penny dropped. "Oh. Tell me you don't mean-"

"Mahad. It looks like we have to get his help sooner than we thought."

"Oh," Kaiba said, biting back the urge to groan. "Great."

Mahad was immediately approving of the plan when he realised it would help Kaiba get back, though he continued to ignore Kaiba's presence and talk solely to Atem as they worked out the finer details. Kaiba leant against the pod, ignoring it for the most part, but his attention perked up as soon as Mahad asked, "But you were at least able to duel?"

And Atem paused, his silence an admission by itself. Mahad's eyes flickered over to Kaiba with another disapproving look, and then lowered his voice. But Kaiba was too practiced at reading people not to have seen him do it, so he leant forward and listened intently.

"Your Highness, how are we to stop him from doing this again?"

Atem paused again, for far too long. "Mahad, let's not jump to conclusions-"

Kaiba pushed himself off the pod to stand upright, stopping their conversation in its tracks. He folded his arms and stared the pair of them down.

"You two are _forgetting something," _he hissed. "Something the pod needs to work. No, _a non-negotiable condition _of it working." Mahad's glare only got more intense. The priest at least had caught on. But Atem had not. He switched back to panic.

"What? What did we miss?"

Kaiba stalked forward until he was towering over Atem and glaring down at Mahad. Mahad took a step forward, putting himself between Kaiba and Atem. But Kaiba didn't back off.

"The Pharaoh is coming back with me," Seto said. Atem flinched and Mahad growled in warning. "If you don't join me," he said, pushing Mahad aside and meeting Atem's shocked eyes with chilly ones of his own, "Then I am not going anywhere."


	2. Interlude 1

A/N: I wanted to include a short chapter in between 1 and 2, so this is it. It's also an excuse to show what the deal is with Mokuba and possible Yugi while the main plotline is restricted mostly to Atem and Seto. These interludes may hope around in time a bit, too. If anyone has any recommendations for other members of the series that could show up, please feel free!

~ Gallowmere

Interlude 1

Mokuba was walking past the doorway when he spotted it. The hologram was sitting in his brother's chair behind the workbench, staring into space. It was still wearing the Battle City outfit, but with weird gold bands on the arms Mokuba didn't recall from the initial testing stages. Then the hologram turned his head and looked directly at Mokuba. The vice president could see the data processing in its eyes. Then the light faded and that red colour came back. It was an eerie approximation of the Pharaoh's always-stern look. If Mokuba hadn't known better he could have mistaken it for the real thing.

And then he smiled. "Hello, Mokuba."

Mokuba turned his back. "Shut down the program."

"No."

Mokuba spun around. "_Excuse me?"_

The hologram stood up and folded its arms. It stared at Mokuba, the two of them practically the same height now. "You do not have the permissions to tell me to shut down. Kaiba gave me control over my own program."

For a moment Mokuba was blindsided. A self-teaching program was one thing, but handing it control over its current state? But then he quickly recovered, snapping, "_Don't _be so familiar in how you address my brother! You're just his _practice partner! _Have you even managed to defeat him in a duel yet?" The hologram said nothing and Mokuba gave his best Kaiba sneer. "I knew it. You haven't."

"I need more data," the hologram said quietly. Mokuba just shook his head, despairing, and started to walk away again. "But Kaiba will bring it to me. Kaiba won't stop until he finds it."

Mokuba stopped dead. His breathing started to speed up. He willed himself to be calm, but it was fruitless. Especially when he had spent his morning seeing endless rounds of 'was the whole Kaiba challenging a piece of jewellery to a duel another Solid Vision stunt?' on his social media feeds. Not to mention the damage control Kaiba Corp had had to do from Aigami's appearance; he'd spent _hours_ scrubbing all digital evidence of that bizarre Millennium Ring monster from existence.

"Do you want to repeat that?" he said, his voice low.

"I _said, _Kaiba is looking for –"

Mokuba Kaiba span around so fast his heel squeaked against the floor. The hologram understood it had upset him since it fell silent, though that antagonistic look on its face didn't change. Kaiba really had made it like the real Pharaoh. Confident. Unflappable. And sometimes so bloody self-righteous. The vice president's fist clenched by his side, and shook. Keeping his eyes on the hologram, he marched over to the desk and yanked the drawer open.

Just as he'd hoped. Two duel disks.

He grabbed one for himself and flung the other to the hologram. "If I win, you surrender your administrator privileges to me _immediately. _Until Seto returns, _I _am in charge."

The hologram gave him a long look. Like the Pharaoh, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. But he _wasn't _the Pharaoh. He didn't think.

"Very well," he said. "I'll accept any challenge. But I'm _not _going to lose to you."

Mokuba attached the disk to his arm, stared the Pharaoh down. "What makes you so sure?"

But he just smirked. "And when I win, you have to answer a question." He put his own disk on and activated it.

Mokuba took his place opposite him, activating the hologram of the duelling field. He hadn't bothered to pick so the randomiser cycled through a bunch of images before it settled on one: a field in Duelist Kingdom. "Duel start!" he cried.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Many Meetings

Atem managed to stop Priest Mahad trying from trying to kill Kaiba, but Kaiba didn't care. He couldn't help but notice Atem didn't exactly jump at Kaiba's proposal. He stood glowering as Atem talked Mahad down, only tuning back in at the end of their conversation.

"I will meet you in the War Room, Priest Mahad. Please inform the others that I need to call a meeting urgently…anyone who can attend will suffice."

Mahad was still trying to contain himself. He took a harsh breath in and seemed to hold it before bowing his head to Atem. "As you command, my Pharaoh." He turned to leave, but his eyes locked with Kaiba's one last time. Kaiba could see the anger in the tightness of the man's jaw. Then he stalked off, his fist clenched, and the guards at the entrance of the courtyard dodged quickly out of his way.

"…Don't tell me there are still wars in paradise," Kaiba said.

"_Kaiba," _Atem warned. Then he turned fully to face him, folding his arms and fixing Seto with a stern look. "Kaiba… I only intend to ask you once. Are you _serious _about this?"

Kaiba folded his arms, too, raising Atem's hard look with his hardest, most withering stare. "You should know that you shouldn't _have _to ask me that."

Atem didn't shrink under his gaze. He squared up to Kaiba just like always. "Even so, I must ask you. Are you serious? Is this what you want?"

_It's what I need. _The thought flashed through his mind like lightning, bewildering in its intensity. But he didn't let on to Atem, instead pausing rather than answering right away. Atem wouldn't take him seriously otherwise, not when he had that damn super serious look on his face. Only absolute sincerity would satisfy him, Kaiba knew. It felt about as much fun as running his nails down a chalkboard, but he made himself hold Atem's eye as he answered.

"Yes," he said, slowly and deliberately. Atem studied him. Then, finally, he nodded.

"All right," he said. "Then there are people I need to talk to about this. You had better sit in on it otherwise _absolutely no-one_ is going to believe that made it here from modern Japan."

"Oh really?" Kaiba said. "I thought you were a king. Aren't you just going to _tell_ them what to do?"

"That's right. I am the king," Atem said, not rising to the bait, "Which means my disappearing for a day trip to the modern world will present a problem."

Kaiba stared him down. There was a lot wrong in that statement, but he could sense this wasn't a point of negotiation. "Then I'll just have to make sure they see things my way."

Atem suddenly chuckled, hiding it behind his hand. Then he shook his head, earrings softly clinking against his choker. "You never did learn when to quit, did you?" Kaiba decided he was taking that one as a compliment.

Atem led the way to the War Room with Kaiba by his side. He didn't speak much so Kaiba could only assume he was still a bit hacked off with Kaiba's earlier declaration.

"So you call an emergency meeting and everyone just does what you say?" Kaiba whistled, low. He knew he was pushing it, but he couldn't help himself. "Pretty impressive, Pharaoh."

Atem gave him a look but said nothing. "You aren't one to be intimidated, but you ought to know – there will be nobles there. A lot of them."

"All right…" They turned a corner down another corridor. He guessed they were going somewhere important by the increase of beautiful murals and pillars and the alarmed looks the guards were giving him.

"By nobles, I also mean Pharaohs past and present. Kings and queens. Not all, but some of them for definite."

"OK. Fine."

"My father too. _Both_ of my parents, most likely, since what you're proposing is highly dangerous, unusual and has never been attempted before."

"All right! I get the idea."

Atem just smirked. "Like usual, I don't think you realise how much is at stake here. But you don't need to worry."

They had stopped in front of a grand set of double doors. Kaiba could already here the chatter from within. "Oh _really? _And what's that?"

Atem looked up at him. The usual sharpness in his red eyes had softened. "I'll be backing you up."

The room fell immediately silent the moment Atem opened the doors and walked in. The table was surrounded with Egyptian nobles, all with various different ridiculous headwear or huge amounts of jewellery. There were some ancient Queens there, too, and Kaiba's eyes were drawn to a woman with a noticeable red tint in her hair. No, it was more than that – Atem had an uncanny resemble to her. There was no way she could be anything else than his mother. Which meant that the man next to her must have been Atem's father, the former King. Kaiba realised with sinking feeling that he hadn't bothered finding the names of either the former Pharaoh or his Queen. So much for impressing these people. Maybe he could just cheat his way through it, instead. Though given the look they were giving him, maybe not.

They all stood as Atem approached the table, many of them gasping when they laid eyes on Seto. Some of the priests surrounding Atem's parents exchanged charged, alarmed glances with one another.

"Good morning. My forebears, my court." Atem said, sitting down. The others sat as well, looking expectantly at Kaiba. "I appreciate you attending this meeting on such short notice."

Kaiba awkwardly cleared his throat and took the empty seat next to Atem. He felt incredibly out of place with his Japanese complexion and being covered in his tech rather than economy-shattering amounts of gold.

"Then it is true, Horakhtian?" one of the men asked. "This man is from the living world?"

"The living world?" Kaiba interrupted. "You all seem rather animated if this is supposed to be the world of the _dead._"

"Your pardon, Lord Saran," Atem said quickly, "Yes, this is Seto Kaiba of the living world. His technology has made it possible for him to visit us."

"And how is it that he is sustaining himself here?" the man Kaiba assumed was Atem's father asked.

"Seto, this is the Pharaoh Akhenamkhanen, my father," Atem explained. Kaiba refrained from saying what a mouthful that was. "And to answer the question, I believe the reason is because Kaiba remembers me. Normally that would be impossible, since no one here would know anyone from the present day. With my being trapped in the Puzzle, that didn't apply to me."

Kaiba spotted an uncomfortable look pass between Atem's parents and it occurred to him that he was missing something, something obvious. How did Atem even end up in the Puzzle in the first place? Kaiba knew he'd never asked Atem during Battle City, and then he hadn't had time, because Atem was just… gone.

He realised Atem was still talking and tried to tune into it. "Kaiba has requested I return with him to the… to Domino City, Japan. I imagine I don't have to tell you what a ground-breaking development this could be, if it was successful. It would change modern life as the world knows it, in fact."

"Quite a compliment, but not my real intention," Kaiba said. It earned him a few sour looks from the nobles gathered.

Atem cleared his throat again. "As it happens, I agree with Kaiba." Kaiba couldn't repress his shocked look. "Should I return with him, a pre-condition would be that my return would be kept essentially secret until we could ensure that travel between dimensions could be done safely in future."

"A wise decision," Akhenamkhanen said, and Atem looked noticeably pleased. "But if that is the case, I have to ask: what reasons are there for going?"

Atem looked at Kaiba, gesturing for him to stand. Seto stared at the sea of unfriendly faces, willing himself to pretend this was just a board meeting. He could do it. He could. So long as he didn't think about how this was the most important 'board meeting' he'd been to in some time. He stood up, looking to Atem for any encouragement he felt like giving. But Atem didn't. He looked genuinely curious to see what Kaiba was going to say.

Kaiba cleared his throat. "Your Majesties, my name is Seto Kaiba. And I'm here because…" He cleared his throat, struggling to find the words. He looked back at Atem again. He was watching Kaiba closely, waiting. "Because I need an equal. There are none of Atem's stature and skill in my realm. Just by getting here, I have revolutionised technology irreversibly. I have done things previously thought impossible."

Atem chuckled next to him and Kaiba stopped, cleared his throat. He needed to get back on track. "But I did all of this from frustration. In my realm we thrive on competition, but what can someone do with no competitor? I know that there's more that can be achieved, much more, but I can't achieve it here. And right now I know that part of that means Atem returning with me, to the world of the _living._"

"To accomplish _what?" _a woman asked. It was the woman Seto thought was Atem's mother. "To help you improve your technology?"

"Seto, this is my mother –" Atem started.

"Allow me," she said and stood. "My name is Queen Amatria. Am I to understand you want my son – my son who struggled for so long to return _home _– to return to your world, solely to satisfy your own whims?"

"_Whims? _You call building a dimension cannon me trying to fulfil a _whim?_"

Atem was standing too. "Queen Amatria, if I could-"

"Then explain it to me, Seto Kaiba," she said, her cold eyes eerily reminiscent of Atem's when he was angry, "What exactly does _my son _gain from this, other than potentially risking his existence yet again?"

"What do you _think!" _Kaiba yelled, slamming his fist on the table.

A deadly silence fell over the room. Amatria was still staring hard at him, unmoved by his words. Atem looked as though he had no idea where to look. Atem's father just looked irritated. Kaiba wasn't one for mincing words, but he could sense when the mood in a room had shifted. He cleared his throat again, tried to look more humbled. "I meant – what I meant by that was, there might be things someone from this realm could do in the world of the living that they can't here, and who else would be better to, if not Atem?"

There was a longer silence. Atem waited before offering, "As it happens, there is something I do want from this opportunity."

Actual shocked gasps went around the room and for the first time the inscrutable expressions of Atem's parents actually changed. They exchanged glances, a whole silent conversation passing between them in seconds. "Go on," Amatria urged him softly, taking her seat once again. Kaiba watched Atem weigh his words, waiting with bated breath to hear what he would say.

"…I want to know about the Plana," he said, and Kaiba felt as though a door had just been slammed in his face. He looked at Atem, but Atem looked completely serious. And suddenly he couldn't look at Atem anymore. His eyes met Amatria's and in her sad look he saw his own disappointment reflected back at him. She looked away, a sad smile playing on her lips, before she regained her composure. Atem was still yammering on about something, but Kaiba didn't want to hear it.

He started observing the room instead. There really was a big range of nobles here, kings and queens and such an array of gold that he would probably be blinded if there were any sunlight in the room. But what struck him more was the looks on their faces. Even with the way Atem demanded attention, there was something unmistakeable in the way they looked at him. He'd seen it sometimes, in boardrooms or even at gaming presentations. It wasn't fear, but awe. It suddenly occurred to Kaiba that despite there being a room full of royalty, not one of them had been in the throne room. Not one of them had been on the throne. Only Atem had.

"There is much that bothers me about the Plana. Worse, there may still be traces of the magic of the Items in the realm of the living. I brought the Puzzle with me, but the others may yet be out there. I believe it is my duty to find them, to protect humanity from them once and for all." He paused, allowing the others to take in his words. "I realise that I have responsibilities here and my absence will necessitate some planning. But we must be swift. My friend yet lives and while his technology might sustain him here, he requires food and water – things our realm cannot provide."

The nobles exchanged alarmed glances, looking at Kaiba like he might drop dead any second. He stared back with his best unimpressed glare. Had it really only just now occurred to them all that he might just need food to survive? No wonder Atem had taken over. Amatria at least looked unmoved. She was still watching her son.

"I believe your idea is sound, Atem. However, one problem remains." Queen Amatria rose and stared Seto down. "Do you know that you can keep my son safe?"

"Queen Amatria-" Atem tried to cut in and she gave him a look that silenced him.

"You yourself are young, Seto Kaiba. None of us have ever met you before, none of us know if you have ever had a child. But there are few who know what it is like to lose a child for three thousand years and never know if there is a _chance_ of him ever coming home." Her red eyes bored into his, daring him to look away and once again Kaiba was struck by how like Atem she was. "So you could understand that we might be a little reluctant to allow you to take Atem back to that dimension with no real plan of how to ensure he survives there."

"I-"

"So allow me to propose a solution," she said, catching Akhenamkhanen's eye. Another silent communication passed between them and the king nodded. "You have two days to find a way to sustain Atem in your dimension _and _return him safely to us. If you cannot do that safely, then we will return you to your world. By force if we must."

Kaiba waited to see if anyone else would chip in. They didn't. Even Atem didn't. Probably wise. But he was different. He smirked. "And if I were just to return again?"

"_Kaiba," _Atem warned.

But Queen Amatria just smiled back. A thin smile, with anger in her eyes. "Then we would send you back as many times as it took."

"And given that you have showed basically no respect to anyone or anything since you arrived, you should count yourself lucky that is _all _we intend to do," Aknamkhanen added dryly. "Is that acceptable to you, Horakhtian?"

It took Atem a moment to realise he was being addressed. "Acceptable? Yes." He looked up to Kaiba. "What about you? Do you accept this?"

He rolled his eyes. "Are any of you giving me a choice?"

"No," Atem said and quickly looked over at his parents before adding, "But I am giving you my help."

The air in the room was unmistakeably tense. Kaiba decided not to push it any further; he still wasn't sure what the etiquette was in this situation but he allowed Atem to leave the room first before following. Even then he could feel several eyes glaring into the back of his head. He retrained himself from looking back. He'd been in board meetings with as much, if not more, anger in the room. He could take it.

The other nobles followed them out, heading in different directions and giving Kaiba hard amounts of side-eye. Atem's parents stopped to speak with him for a moment, saying something in low voices Seto couldn't make out. Queen Amatria rested her hand on his shoulder, gently brushing her hand down his bangs. Pharaoh Akhenamkhanen then walked off, not looking back. There was a tension in his shoulders, though, a tell-tale sign of bottled-up anger. Queen Amatria went to follow him, but she actually looked back. But not at Atem, at Kaiba. She didn't look angry; just like Atem she was hard to read, maybe worse since Kaiba wasn't used to her, so he wasn't sure _what _exactly the look meant. Then she nodded and went on her way.

Then it was just the two of them, and the guards hanging awkwardly in the background.

"That went better than I expected," Atem said, with forced cheerfulness. "Back to the courtyard?"

"You know I was serious. I don't intend to leave until I have what I came for."

"I know." He smiled wryly. "We had better get to work then, hadn't we?"

As they walked back to the courtyard, Kaiba's mind turned back to the meeting. He wanted to ask Atem if he had been serious about finding out about the Plana, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to say the words. Instead he tried to turn his mind to the immediate problem – sustaining whatever Atem was now, some sort of energy ghost, back in Domino.

God, he needed some coffee.

"Atem," he said as they walked along. Atem looked up at him, finding his eyes. "When you were in the Puzzle, how – how exactly did it work? What sustained you?"

Atem raised an eyebrow. "Not planning to trap me in there again, are you?"

"Of – of course not."

Atem looked unconvinced but didn't press it further. "The truth is, I don't entirely know. It was a spell I created in order to seal most of the magic of the Items. The seal was compromised when Yugi solved the Puzzle."

"Hm." Kaiba fixed a guard with a _what are you looking at _gaze. He snapped to attention and greeted Atem as they passed. "And when you were, you know, _in _the Puzzle, what was that… like?"

Atem stared off into the distance. "Cold. And dark." He was quiet as they walked, reaching up to tug his cape tighter around his shoulders. "But the dark is something you can get used to. And I don't think it was the same kind of cold someone living would feel… Pardon me, I've gotten off track."

"Don't apologise. Just get on track."

"All right. To put it simply, I always thought it was the magic of the seal and that of the Puzzle that sustained me." He rested his hand on the golden face of the Puzzle. "I was bonded to it for so long. Part of me still is – I wouldn't have been able to possess Yugi again without it acting as a conduit."

"That's a start, but you're talking in magic. I need you to translate it to science."

"Naturally." He rolled his eyes. "All right, let me think…" He directed Kaiba around the next turn, greeting another guard as they went. "Before we were talking about the net of consciousness, weren't we? That the power of consciousness can be used to elevate brainwaves, or something along those lines."

"Not something your magicians around here could understand," he said, scoffing, "But go on."

"Anyway." Atem cleared his throat. "Could we not do something similar? You remember me, so couldn't you be my point of contact to keep me from disappearing?"

"Okay…"

"And then use your Solid Vision system to fill in the blanks?"

"Hmm." Kaiba examined the disk still strapped to his arm. He knew full well how powerful his tech was, and Atem was smart enough to realise it … but something didn't sit right with him about the plan. Besides the obvious gaps in how it would actually _work, _the plan was basically the same as his.

Pegasus.

That loon had tried to resurrect someone using nothing else except Solid Vision and Millennium magic, and god knew that man's only good idea was Duel Monsters.

But still…

Atem was staring at him. "Or maybe not…?"

Kaiba cleared his throat. "No, it isn't – it isn't that. Don't worry about. I'll think of something."

But Atem just shook his head. "You mean, _we." _He sighed at the look Kaiba gave him. "You have another thing coming if you think I would allow you to die on my watch."

They ended up heading to Atem's room, as soon as Kaiba had grabbed some of his gadgets out of the pod. Unfortunately it meant they had to head back through the complicated network of the palace corridors, and now news had spread. Most of the nobles they passed fixed Kaiba with looks ranging from hostile to suspicious. Most of them tried to disguise it when they caught Atem's eye, to varying degrees of success.

Only one stopped them. It wasn't Mahad this time, but a woman. She might have been in her thirties, with dark hair that curled up at the ends. She looked like a priestess – robes and jewellery, but no crown or head adornment.

Neither she nor Atem said anything, but they exchanged soft looks. Instead she turned to Kaiba and after looking him up and down for a moment, she extended her hand.

"Mana," she said. "You don't remember me, but you will."

"Seto," he said, perplexed but shaking her hand anyway. "Seto Kaiba."

"I know all about you," she said, her brown eyes twinkling like she had put a spider in the Dimension Canon. "I hope you're as smart as they said you claimed to be. Don't give up until you find a way to give the Pri- the Pharaoh a holiday, okay?"

"_Mana," _Atem said. "I am not returning – if I can return – for a holiday."

"Right, right," she said, sneaking a wink at Kaiba when she turned around. "Make sure he packs everything he needs, Mr Kaiba, all right?"

And she waved and walked off.

Atem was definitely pouting as she walked away. Kaiba chuckled. "I like her. Is she your older sister or something?"

"No. Mana is – was – _younger_ than me."

Kaiba caught the bitter tone and looked at him sideways. "I was kidding. She clearly isn't a princess."

Atem pushed up his crown and rubbed at his temples. He looked pained. "Never mind. I shouldn't have mentioned it."

Kaiba started to say something and stopped himself. What was there to say? But he had that irritating feeling again, like there was something to say and he didn't know what it was. Atem noticed his irritation this time, something in his eyes that Kaiba couldn't read. But then he looked away, and a second later, cleared his throat.

"Here we are."

They had stopped in front of a set of deep blue doors with an image of Isis and her outstretched wings above it. Kaiba folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"All right, Your Highness. This had better be impressive."

Atem took a second to catch on. He reached for the door handle and smirked back at him. "With your net value? That _is _a challenge."

And he opened the doors, leading Kaiba into the room.

Except it wasn't a room, it was an antechamber. A small room with bookshelves at one end and a little table at the other. The table had two open boxes on the top – classically Egyptian, so made out of wood and beautiful gold and turquoise accents – with scrolls in.

"Kaiba, are you coming in?" Atem called from the other room.

"Sure, sure," he said, still trying to read what was on one of the scrolls as he headed into the other room. The antechamber opened out into a larger second room, this one more obviously intended for meetings. There was a low table with two simple sofas facing each other, again adorned in fabrics of luxurious blue and gold. There were some concessions to relaxation – more bookshelves, this time with boxes that looked suspiciously like gaming sets.

But that was nothing compared to the rest of the room. The walls were decorated, each and every inch, in gorgeous murals. Colour had been carved into every part of the room, demonstrating what looked like real-life scenes so all someone had to do to follow the story was to look from beginning to end. At first he wasn't sure what he was looking at, but then he spotted an unmistakeable figure.

A young Egyptian sitting on a throne. A crown being placed under his spiky golden bangs.

Kaiba turned to look down at Atem, who had sat down on one of the sofas, watching him. he knew Atem knew that he understood what the wall meant. There was a long pause before Atem leant back into the couch and looked down, acquiescing.

So Kaiba turned back, looking across the walls for the beginning of the story. Finally he spotted it – images of the king and queen he'd met earlier looking down at someone, the king full of trepidation and the queen loving, the drawing from the baby's perspective. Then a child learning to walk with his father, being taught to read by his mother. Playing ruler and swordfighter with a younger Mahad. Learning instruments and other languages with his tutors. Escaping them with a young girl with wavy hair and mischievous eyes. Hiding in pots together at the entrance to the palace. Being lined up and scolded by Mahad and an older man who looked like Yugi's grandfather.

Then they started to change. Atem in the murals was still young, still with puppy fat and bright eyes. But odd things were happening around him. He was mastering spells faster than his tutors could keep up with. He was summoning spirits – Kuriboh an obvious favourite in his early days – without effort. The monarchs were alarmed. They tried to teach him faster. They tried to slow the growth of his power.

Seto looked back again, but Atem had shut his eyes and folded his arms, totally motionless in his seat. He scanned faster, not sure if he wanted to keep looking. The mural Atem looked barely a toddler when his mother vanished from the drawings. The pictures became centred around statesmanship, more tutoring, more responsibilities. Another priest appeared in the pictures, one resembling him. There were battles between them, sometimes with swords and sometimes with spirits. He looked barely a teenager when his father began to fail. Then he too vanished. Atem stood alone, his priests watching him from a distance.

Then the coronation. A great number of images followed Kaiba didn't quite understand – Atem making treaties with nations or tribes that had long since ceased to exist. Atem helping his people, fighting for his people, bleeding for his people…being adored by his people. The priests struggling to protect him, struggling to keep up. In one scene Atem and Seto's doppelgänger fought side by side, an obvious look of smug pride on both of their faces. Their enemies stood frozen in time, a perpetual _oh shit _look in their eyes. In many scenes, the light of the Egyptian Gods surrounded Atem. In one, he saw off an entire army armed with Slifer alone while the people cheered in the background.

Atem was at his peak in these drawings; a powerful Pharaoh meting out retribution to wrongdoers and fiercely protecting his people at the frontline of every battle. Egypt grew in the background; more building projects, more trade, more progress. And he stayed close to his people while Seto's ancient twin looked on disapprovingly, always one step behind.

And then a white-haired thief appeared. He too had a powerful spirit and Atem engaged him in battle after battle. Mahad fell, rising again as the Dark Magician. Atem chased him through the city alone, taking fire to cover his people from Bakura until finally he was pushed from a cliff. The palace was dark, a single light around the empty throne like the priests were holding vigil.

It looked as though days passed. Atem reappeared, bloodied and bruised. And he kept fighting.

Seto felt his breath suddenly coming quicker, the same itch under his skin as he had felt once when he had stumbled on a journal Mokuba had been keeping on some website or other. He hadn't looked then. He shouldn't look now.

He looked over at Atem again. The Pharaoh was watching him. Expecting something from him. The force in his eyes was so great Seto looked away. Went back to the wall, one last time.

A woman with white hair was killed, and the priest was grieving her. He turned to the darkness called by Bakura, trying to harness it. Atem stood in his way and the two of them fought. Atem refused to back down, putting himself weaponless before the might of a Blue Eyes. Seto couldn't kill him, and he stood down.

Finally many of the priests had been killed and only Seto and Atem remained in the mural. The two of them clasped hands, soldier to soldier. Then Atem turned his back and faced the darkness alone. In the final image, the people were safe from the darkness, but Atem was gone. The priest had become king, but he still kept the Puzzle pieces safe. He still charged a group of men and women to guard the secret. And the priests, priestesses and king and queen, reunited in the Afterlife, were reaching out to Atem in the darkness. Just as with his birth scene, Atem could not be seen in the last mural.

But it looked out from his eyes towards his family, who waited for him to come home.

Kaiba couldn't begin to define how he felt, looking at that last drawing. At _all _of the drawings. He knew Atem had lost his memories, he'd been told that explicitly. He'd made fun of Atem for chasing the past. Called him a fool, and sentimental. He'd believed it, at the time. But he'd never really thought of the reality of it, of not knowing. He had a past he'd have been happy to forget. The only part worth fighting the memories for was Mokuba.

But this? This was _love_. It was in every line, every colour, every expression. It was more than art, it was deeply personal, deeply intimate in a way he thought the life of a royal could never be.

And it offended him.

He had never had a loving family or friends who cherished him. Not the way Atem had. He had had difficulties, responsibilities, a brother he loved but had no idea how to provide for. He hadn't been old enough to remember their parents very well. But he had been old enough to remember all the awful people who had used them afterwards. He had many admirers, in young Duel Monsters and tech enthusiasts.

But the looks he had seen people give Atem, both in the drawings and in person… it was more than admiration. It was adoration.

Kaiba's mouth turned down. Was he supposed to feel guilty about suggesting Atem returned with him? These people might admire him, love him even, but he still carried responsibilities on his shoulders, even here. At least Kaiba knew how to use the people who intended to use him. Atem hadn't even learnt that much.

These people hadn't drawn his dead body. They hadn't detailed the sacrifice he had made. They didn't have the stomach to.

He spun around to face Atem, fixing the king with an angry stare. Atem looked confused as Kaiba grappled with his duel disk and then his coat, dumping both of them unceremoniously on the sofa before sitting opposite Atem. "Enough dawdling around. You and I have a world to change."

Atem nodded. "Then let's get to it."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – The Departure

Kaiba wasn't sure how time worked here anymore, but it felt as though hours passed while Atem and he brainstormed and worked from the theoretical to the actual. Even though he hadn't eaten and Atem hadn't rested – or whatever it was he did – neither of them showed any signs of fatigue. They talked a mile a minute, pitching ideas back and forth, each one crazier and more revolutionary than the last.

Even though he and Atem were talking two different languages – science versus magic – it didn't seem to matter. They drew extensive notes, Kaiba wrote formulas and then Atem refined them, translated them into spells he didn't even want to begin to understand. The longer they worked, the more plausible the whole concept felt. Not that Kaiba had ever had any real doubt about it. He had changed the world once, twice shouldn't be that hard.

In the end they gravitated towards an evolution of Pegasus' initial idea: to enable Kaiba's Solid Vision within the Dimension Canon and provide an energy source directly to Atem on the same frequency as the one on this dimension that the spirits subsisted on. The Solid Vision would give Atem the same consistency as his holograms: solid but essentially hollow on the inside. And then Atem would use his magic to tie his form to it, with his Puzzle as a backup battery.

Soon they were putting the final touches on each of their ideas. They both looked up from their bits of parchment with ink-splotched hands, their eyes wide with the realisation of what they were about to achieve. Kaiba especially felt it. This was a high that rivalled few experiences in his life. He couldn't help but laugh, taking Atem off guard.

Even Atem started to chuckle. "I think this is it," he whispered. "This is it. This could work."

"Could? Where the hell is your confidence?"

Atem laughed properly then and hastily tried to reign it in. "Kaiba, do you realise what we've done? What this will mean?"

"Of course. I think that meeting made it pretty clear what's at stake." He scooped the paper into neater piles, keeping the important parts separate and setting the rest to candlefire, a sheet at a time. "So how about it?" he said, meeting Atem's red eyes.

"How about what?"

"How about we pitch this and get this show on the road? Or better yet, you demand they go along with it." He stood, waiting for Atem to stand too. He didn't. He was looking down their finalised idea, quiet.

"All right," he said. "Tomorrow we have one last meeting. Whatever the outcome, you _have _to go home then."

"Of course," Kaiba said, shrugging. "And you're coming with me."

Kaiba had never seen more shocked faces in one room than the time he had mentioned in a board meeting that Mokuba had proposed an idea for an RPG with no violence or fanservice and he'd given it the green light, no questions asked.

"So… correct me if I am misunderstanding you," Queen Amatria said. "Your plan is for Atem to possess an empty shell with his existence reliant on a conduit for energy?"

"Yes," Kaiba said. Akhenamkhanen looked infuriated, but Atem cut in.

"If you'll permit me, Pharaoh Akhenamkhanen, Queen Amatria – everyone. What we propose is fundamentally similar to my situation with Yugi. I would possess a host as before, only this host would preserve my true form and have an energy supply to draw from just as the Puzzle sustained me before."

The former king sighed. "That makes sense, but you must see it from our perspective. Your existence balanced on a knife's edge before – why would we be eager for you to return to that state? And this solution you propose is _theoretical, _not proven. At least when you were possessing Yugi, we knew your existence was at least stable."

"And, Horakhtian, suppose something were to happen?" a noble chimed in. "You are the strongest of us, the best able to protect this realm if another threat like the Plana were to appear. Why would we _want _to risk your existence at all when Horakhty chose you as the king among kings in this realm?"

Kaiba looked over at Atem. He'd figured as much, but hearing it outright was something different. Atem studiously avoided his gaze. Kaiba turned back to him, his fist clenched. "Well, maybe _you _should-"

There was a sudden, blinding flash and everyone in the room flinched. When Kaiba opened his eyes again and managed to blink away the spots, a woman had appeared in the room. A woman adorned in white and gold and giving off an unnatural glow.

And everyone but Atem was prostrate on the floor before her.

The woman turned and regarded them both. It was her eyes that gave Kaiba final confirmation – this was no woman. No woman had that unnatural gold for an iris. She regarded the pair of them and said nothing.

"Horakhty," Atem said quietly. "Did someone call you?"

"My kingdom has been compromised," the goddess replied. Her eyes travelled to Seto and despite himself, he shivered. Those eyes were filled with the brightest gold, but they were empty of empathy, of life. Even her movements were precise, almost doll-like. He didn't want to look at her. He couldn't look away. "It is true, then, that this man invaded my realm?"

"My name is Seto Kaiba," he said, and struggled to find anything more to say. In her presence words just dried up.

"He travelled here. He means no disrespect," Atem cut in. "If I could-"

"Respect? Respect is irrelevant. I care that he understands what is my domain and what is not. _You _are of my domain, Atem. What right has he to remove you from it?"

"He is not _removing _me. I would go willingly," Atem replied, but even he shrank a little when she turned those bright eyes on him. "I go to ensure that none of the disturbances caused by the Items remain in the living world. To make sure that the magic that endangered _my friends _and their world – _again - _cannot be repeated."

Horakhty considered. Then she said, "And have you considered that of all the 'disturbances' to affect the living world, _you, _Atem, have been the greatest of all?"

Atem paled, recoiling like he had been struck. "I…I never meant to-"

"Intentions are irrelevant. The truth is this: alive, you were the most dangerous sorcerer the world has ever known. You commanded the three Egyptian Gods. Dead, you became the centre point of the dark forces of the Puzzle." She scrutinised Atem, not noticing how Kaiba had begun to unfreeze next to him. How he had begun to tense up. "Many forces pursued you, if not for the Puzzle then for _you, _for the power of the Pharaoh. A power that reflects my own. Why would I put a reflection of my own power in a position of vulnerability for a second time?"

"That-" Atem looked down, "I…I've-"

"I've never heard _something so stupid in my entire life," _Kaiba said.

An entire chorus of gasps went across the entire room. Many of the nobles, kings and queens broke protocol and looked up at Kaiba, fury in their eyes. But Horakhty didn't. She just held up a hand for silence and regarded him calmly. Atem looked at Kaiba, his red eyes wide, hanging on his every word.

"Listen to you. You talk about Atem as though he were an asset, a piece on your chessboard in some game." He started to pace up and down, his coat whipping angrily around him when he turned. "I don't know _what _you are, I don't know how this ridiculous place works. But I do know one thing: not a bloody one of you have asked Atem what he _wants _to do." He turned to Atem, seized him by the shoulders. "This is _your life. _It is up to _you _and no one else how you risk it, when you risk it, on what you risk it for! Tell me that you've gotten tired of risking everything to change the world – to do the _extraordinary. _That's all I need to know I _wasted_ my time getting here." He released the dazed monarch and fixed Horakhty with the sharpest glare he could manage. "And you. If you believe Atem and I can't handle whatever might target him in the living world, you are no goddess. You are a fool."

There was complete, total silence in the room.

And then, something chilling: Horakhty smiled. It wasn't a natural smile; it was as though a vase had cracked from side to side. "You… have not changed at all. Not in three millennia." She turned to Atem. "And you? What say you?"

"Change the world," Atem muttered softly, and Kaiba felt that familiar dopamine hit that said _you've won. _Atem chuckled softly. "…I'm not old enough yet _not_ to want to change the world. One more time. One more time, to do it right."

Horakhty looked at them both, and sighed. Then she shook her head. There might have been a tired look in those golden eyes. "…Very well. I shall allow this, so long as you truly intend to return once you have purged the living world of any remaining magic." She fixed her gaze on Seto and he steeled himself to stare her down. "And Seto Kaiba?" She appraised him, a tiny smile at the edge of her lips. "I shall remember you."

And she vanished, dissolving into golden light. There was a moment of silence where the nobles started to pick themselves off the floor, all of them shell-shocked like they couldn't quite believe they were still alive. Kaiba and Atem exchanged _did that actually just happen? _sort of looks.

Then there was a laugh from the doorway. Mana stood there, unable to contain herself. "Well, what are you waiting for?" she said, laughing. "You heard her."

Mana got immediately chummy with Seto as they headed out of the meeting, taking his arm and talking his ear off. "And tell the Pri – the Pharaoh that I and all of the priests are going to protect this realm just _fine _in his absence. He will be prone to worrying anyway, so keep him busy. He will probably tell you that he isn't homesick but he will be; part of his mind is always in Egypt. And also…"

"Could you slow down? Or make me some notes."

She chuckled. "Never mind. If you really are anything like – well…" She cleared her throat and released his arm, moving away. "Either way, you should be fine. It _will _be fine." She turned to look back at Atem. He was surrounded by his parents, the three of them speaking in low voices. The other nobles were starting to leave, too, many of them looking still totally at sea. The ones who had recovered were shooting dagger looks at Seto. Even Mana smiling pleasantly at them was not enough to make them stop. Eventually, though, they pulled away, their eyes lingering on Atem for one last time. Mana's did too.

She was still watching him as she spoke again. "Listen to me, Seto. You and he are both still young, in a lot of ways. The people who survived back then… who came here… aren't. I think the world of the living could be good for him. And I think you might be the only person who can show him that." She looked him dead in the eye. "But you may have to remember some things that you don't want to." He rolled his eyes before he could stop himself and she laughed. "He said you hated the whole past life routine. I probably would too, if it were me." In a flash she was back to looking serious. "But remember what I told you. Now that you broke the barrier, things will change in ways you don't expect."

"I know that," he grumbled, though he had no idea what she meant and they both knew it. She surprised him again by putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I know I ask this a lot, but look out for him, all right? He has a habit of running into trouble wherever he goes." She stepped back. "I'd tell you to do the same, but you were always much better at looking out for yourself."

"Right," he said, a bit unnerved. "Of course."

Then she approached Atem, interrupting the conversation he was having with his parents. Before he could say anything, she reached down and hugged him tight. He didn't react for a moment, surprised, before he hugged her back. She couldn't see his face, but Kaiba could. He looked pained.

Then she pulled back, saying something Kaiba couldn't catch, before waving and walking off as though nothing of any importance was happening. Kaiba stared after her, running a hand through his hair and sighing to himself. More than any of the nobles' reactions, more than even a dressing down by what was supposedly a literal goddess… it really sunk in watching Mana walking away: he really might not know what he was getting himself into.

Atem was watching Mana too, the look on his face suggesting he was thinking the exact same thing.

Kaiba volunteered to let Atem say his goodbyes alone, trusting him to come back when he was done. He didn't really want to go back to Atem's room with that creepy life mural, either, but he didn't say as much to Atem. Instead he stayed with the pod, preparing it as planned. He planted several Solid Vision generators around the pod, turning them on to create a miniature field within the cannon. The next thing was the energy source. He started tinkering with his duel disk, adjusting it to output the energy frequency that he had used to repel Diva. In theory it should work as an energy source for Atem to feed from, but he would just have to test it when Atem returned.

Either way, he extracted the component from his duel disk and attached it to a simple strap to affix it to Atem's arm. He could worry about the bells and whistles later, right now he just needed it to work. But to be sure, he would need Atem to return.

Where had he gotten to, anyway? Kaiba rested on the side of the pod, trying to ignore the fact that he was starting to feel persistently hungry and thirsty. And then he heard footsteps approaching the courtyard. Kaiba looked up to see Mahad standing there. They regarded one another in total silence.

Kaiba decided to be the first to break it. "You disapprove of me, don't you?"

Mahad didn't answer.

Kaiba slid off the pod, squaring up to the priest. Mahad was almost as tall as he was. Almost. "And yet you're willing to help me. Why?"

Mahad folded his arms.

"No, let me _guess_ first," Kaiba said, feeling his temper starting to flare. "Because he _asked _you to. Right? Isn't that all it takes for you people?"

Mahad cleared his throat, tilted his head to the side. The look on his face was even more aggravating – like Seto was just a child whose tantrum he was humouring. In the old days Kaiba would have responded with as much venom as he felt necessary to anyone who dared look at him like that. But now he just felt tired. This was Atem's world, not his, and he didn't care enough to bother learning its rules. He was getting what he came for. As long as Mahad did as Atem wanted, there was no sense rocking the boat any further.

It was when Kaiba turned to return to the pod that Mahad spoke. "I hear you still deny your past."

Kaiba kept walking. He reached the pod and leant in to pick up the device he had built.

"I find it odd. You followed Atem all the way to Aaru, but you deny who you once were."

Kaiba started tinkering with the device again just to give his hands something to do. Mahad didn't notice or didn't care. He just kept prattling on.

"Perhaps you know of your resemblance to a priest in Atem's court. But I imagine you _don't _know the years you carried on in his absence, do you?" When Kaiba paused, Mahad chuckled softly. "Ah. I thought not."

Kaiba said nothing. He wasn't going to give Mahad the satisfaction.

"You served as Pharaoh until your death. You founded the Tomb keepers, who guarded the secret of how Atem could return here. And you kept the pieces of the Puzzle together, protecting them." Mahad approached, his long shadow falling over the pod. "Your past self, the previous you, made this moment happen. _He _is the reason you stand here at all."

Kaiba span around. "Why don't you _shut up-"_

Mahad grabbed his hand. "And for that," he said, "I owe you my thanks."

"What?" Seto shook him off. "What are you…"

"But you should know…" Mahad said, his tone calm, pleasant even, "That if _anything_ happens to him, I won't be the only one hunting you down." He looked Seto up and down, sizing him up. Kaiba flinched under his gaze, the urge to go on the offensive returning. "So bear that in mind."

Kaiba was about to retort when he spotted Atem appear in the courtyard. Mahad caught on immediately, turning and greeting the Pharaoh with a bow as he always did. The two clasped arms as soldiers might.

"Am I interrupting something?" Atem asked, looking from one to the other.

"Not at all, Pharaoh," Mahad said, letting go and standing at attention. "We were merely discussing the mechanics of the trip."

"Still? I thought we had that resolved," Atem said, looking over at Kaiba. Kaiba smirked.

"Of course we do," he said. "Your Mahad is just an excessive worrier."

Atem tried to disguise the fact that he was laughing and failed. As a result, he completely missed the look Mahad gave Seto.

Once Kaiba had the device attached to Atem's arm and in working order, there was nothing else left to be done. Unfortunately, they weren't alone. Kaiba looked up and spotted a crowd of people stood in the entryways to the courtyard. He had no desire to acknowledge them, but Mahad, of course, immediately pointed them out to Atem.

Atem clambered up onto the side of the pod, gesturing for them to approach. Kaiba surmised that everyone had said their goodbyes in private already by the way they still kept some distant as they silently filled the space. It was interesting who wasn't there, though – he didn't see _a lot_ of the nobles from the meeting earlier.

The small gathering made up of Atem's parents, some of the other priests, Mana and a few others gathered around the pod. Atem slid into the seat next to his, nodding to Kaiba. Mahad was standing outside watching, his eyes narrowed and locked on Kaiba. Then he and Atem nodded to one another. A strange golden light covered the priest and in the next second he had vanished completely.

Atem turned to Kaiba. The Afterlife didn't seem to have night-time, just day and twilight, and right then the sky was bathed in pale violet light. It made Atem look unearthly, the red of his eyes and the gold of his jewellery suddenly eerie in a way Kaiba hadn't noticed before. That look on his face didn't help. It was a look of total anticipation, excitement even. And power. Atem knew his own power and he wasn't afraid of it. Kaiba hadn't been unnerved about being in the land of the dead. Not until now.

"Ready to change the world?" Kaiba said, hand on the start-up button. Atem didn't answer. He looked out the window at the small gathering of people. They looked back, some nervous, some sad. Atem's parents stood at the centre of the group. They didn't exactly look sad, Kaiba thought. He was sure he'd be able to recognise parental sadness or longing, even if it had never been directed at him. No, it was more… resignation. Like they were just watching the inevitable unfolding.

Kaiba couldn't tell how Atem felt, since he was facing away. But he looked tense. Even hidden under the folds of that ostentatious cape, Kaiba could see tension in his shoulders. Then it was like someone had jabbed an electrical current into him – his back suddenly straightened up, his head raised and his chin lowered. The Pharaoh turned back around to face Kaiba; his expression impassive. He was the picture of composure as he settled back into the pod. He gave Kaiba a another curt nod, then repositioned himself to look out of the window, his red eyes unreadable.

The whole performance reminded Kaiba of something, but he couldn't put his finger on what. He shook it off though and settled into his own seat. Kaiba glanced back once, just to make sure that none of the gathering were too close to the pod, then turned on the pod. The screen flickered to life, greeting him when he gave it his biometric signature.

"Ready to make the bridge?" he asked, checking the condition of the pod and glancing at Atem out of the corner of his eye. He nodded, still staring straight ahead.

Kaiba began the pod start up sequence, waiting for the vehicle to find a connection. Beside him Atem was gripping the side of the pod, his eyes fixed somewhere in the middle distance. His eyes were determined, then pained and then suddenly a seed of gold appeared in his pupils, spreading into a light that spread and overtook the deep red.

"Atem?" Kaiba said, drowned out by the pod chiming happily as it found a connection.

"Keep going!" Atem said, gripping the side of the pod so hard his knuckles went white. He practically doubled up in the next second, gripping his chest and gasping as a golden light emanated from somewhere. Atem reached up and tore off his crown, dropping it with a clatter on the pod floor.

Kaiba turned and his eyes widened in horror at the bright gold eye burning out of the skin on Atem's forehead. "Atem-"

"I said _keep going!" _he cried. He shut his eyes, digging his hands into his hair. The pod's screen moved to the next stage of the initialisation and Kaiba quickly moved to put all power behind the return journey while the connection was stable. The light began to form outside of the pod, the tunnel Kaiba had seen on the way there reforming. Kaiba ran through the rest of the protocols as fast as he could, his eyes continually going to Atem as the monarch continued to struggle.

"Atem, we're almost there!" he said, and Atem didn't respond at all. "Atem?" He reached out to grab Atem's arm and Atem whipped around to face him, the golden eyes burning into his. Then Atem's face creased in pain and he shut those freakish eyes, doubling over again. Kaiba fumbled to get through the last settings and passed the last protocol. Atem cried out again but it was drowned out by the building, overwhelming roar of the engine.

The ground behind the pod began to fall away, the light getting so intense Kaiba could barely stand to keep his eyes open. He hung onto the controls for dear life, trying to warn Atem to brace himself or guard the energy source on his arm or _something_ when at the last second before Kaiba had to shut his eyes against the intense light, Atem –

Atem turned, the gold light in his eyes replaced with panicked, human red.

Then the light burned into Kaiba's retinas and he had to shut them tight, sunburst explosions going off behind his eyelids. In the middle of the chaos, he had the sudden, random thought that it wasn't this rocky on the way there…

The pod shook intensely, Kaiba fighting blindly with the controls to keep it level. There was a dull thud, like the pod had just hit something hard. The lab floor. They must be landing back in the lab floor.

"Come on. Come on, come on," Kaiba muttered frantically to himself, sweating hard under his coat. The pod started to drift and, thank God, he could hear the pod scraping against the lab floor. They were back. They had made it.

Kaiba waited until he felt the shaking of the pod subside before he cracked his eyes open. The bright light had faded but he had to blink a few times before he could see anything past the spots dancing in his vision. It _was _the lab. Just as tidy and sterile and modern as when he'd left. Just to be safe he yanked his mobile out of his coat pocket and saw the signal come to life. Saw the weather update itself, connecting him once again to Domino City, Japan. _His _city. Seto laughed. He turned to show it to Atem.

Then he froze.

Atem was slumped back in the seat, limp. The golden eye on his forehead was gone. His eyes were shut, his expression blank.

"Atem?" Kaiba dumped his phone on the seat, reaching out to the Pharaoh. He didn't look right – besides looking like a broken doll, there was something shimmery about him, like he wasn't really there. Just an image superimposed on the world. Seto's breathing was uneven as his hand came closer to Atem's shoulder.

Then he made contact. And Atem's shoulder was solid. He wasn't a ghost, he was really _here_. Kaiba let out a breath. Then Kaiba shook his shoulder, hard. "Atem. Atem, we're here. Come on! Wake up!"

But Atem didn't wake up.

The energy source! Was the energy source intact?

Seto scrambled to get to Atem's other side since the device was attached to his other arm, which wasn't easy to do since the pod wasn't that big to begin with. Eventually he gave up and expanded the Solid Vision field he had been generating outside of the pod and onto the lab floor, then slammed open the roof.

He climbed over the side of the pod to Atem's side, honing in on the energy source. It was in one piece and still looked like it was working. So what the hell was the problem?

He shook Atem's shoulder again. "Pharaoh? Pharaoh, come on!"

And still nothing.

Seto jumped out of the pod, looking for something, _anything _that might help him figure out what was wrong. He slid off the pod to race to his computer when he spotted someone standing in the door.

It was Mokuba. He stared wide-eyed at Seto, his expression going from relief, to anger, to total disbelief.

He had seen Atem lying motionless in the pod.

His mouth opened and closed. He couldn't get a sound out. When he cleared his throat and tried again, his voice was small, a repressed anger in it Seto had never heard before. "What the hell have you done?" he said.

Seto looked back at the Pharaoh's motionless form. He was starting to realise he had no idea.


	5. Interlude 2

A/N: This one skips back before Kaiba and Atem made the trip, so you'll have to wait on the cliffhanger resolution a bit longer. Sorry!

Anyways, a surprise character pops up in this one. I wanted to do more with them than what they got in canon, so if it feels like OOC-ness ensues, that's the reason why. Anyways, I think they have a justification for their behaviour in this chapter, so let me know what you think.

R&Rs welcome!

Interlude 2

Atem had no idea what to take with him. He'd never really been on a trip before, except that one with Yugi to the Valley of the Kings.

Yugi.

If this succeeded, he'd be where Yugi was.

Atem shook his head, shoving the thought away. He couldn't think about that now. As much as he believed in he and Kaiba's plan, it would still be a minor miracle if they managed to pull this off. Just as he was about to get cold feet about the whole endeavour, there was a soft rap on the door.

"Kaiba, I said that I'd be there-" He turned around to see Akhenaden standing there, and stopped cold. "Oh. Hello, Uncle. I mean, Priest Akhenaden. Your pardon."

"None needed." He stayed at the doorway, standing at attention with his arms folded. "I have only one thing to say about your… endeavour."

Atem put down the clothes he'd been half-heartedly folding. "Yes? Please speak freely. I noticed you did not attend the meeting earlier."

But Akhenaden shook his head. "Fear not, Pharaoh. I just wanted to say… thank you. I hope that whatever remains of the Millennium Magic, you find it and put and end to it – for good." He bowed his head. "I only wish that I were able to put things right myself. But we all know that your successor would never stand for that."

Atem chuckled. "Quite right. I thank you, High Priest Akhenaden. I will do my best."

Akhenden bowed again, this time at the waist, before backing out of the room. Atem tried to go back to packing, but his heart wasn't in it. He looked up at the mural of his life that adorned the walls. He'd loved them for doing it, but he couldn't help but notice that some of the parts he remembered from playing Bakura's RPG were just not there. The mural didn't show Akhenaden much, even though Atem knew he must have been scheming to get Seto on the throne at least some time before Bakura ever showed up, and it glanced over the subject of who summoned Zorc.

But then again, a lot of the people in the Afterlife weren't comfortable with Akhenaden's presence, period, especially since his summoning Zorc led to the deaths of so many. Perhaps they just couldn't stand to paint him in…

There was another rap at the door, a more decisive one this time. Atem looked over, again expecting Kaiba, but he was wrong once again.

It was Kisara.

"Is it true, Your Majesty? Are you to return to the world of the living with S–" And she stopped herself, not managing to get the name out. Atem turned fully to face her, uncertain of what to say. He had never spoken with Kisara much, and for her part she had never appeared at ease with him. So he had kept his distance. "With him," she said softly.

"Yes. It is true."

She looked him dead in the eye. Her blue eyes were so pale he was immediately reminded of all the times he had stared down Blue Eyes from across the duelling field. "Why?" she asked.

He tipped his head to the side, confused. Atem could tell her what happened in that meeting, but he could sense something deeper behind her question. "There are problems left unresolved on earth. Problems created by the Items that clearly still need to be fixed."

She shook her head. "Allow me to rephrase. Why does _he _want you to return?"

"He- well…" Atem searched in vain to explain about Duel Monsters in a way that wouldn't sound kind of over the top. He couldn't find one. "He needed someone to – challenge him –"

"Are you sure?"

Atem paused again. She certainly had a talent for asking questions he couldn't answer. "What do you mean?"

Now it was her turn to hesitate. She had the same look he had seen on his Court sometimes; a look of someone weighing up how much they should say.

"If there is something bothering you, Lady Kisara, please speak it. I understand your relationship with Seto was-"

"We had none," she said.

"E-excuse me?"

Kisara's eyes narrowed. "Yes. I see it ever more clearly now. We _never_ had any real relationship and this modern counterpart of his proves it to be so. After all, he came here without the slightest curiosity about what sparked his bond with the Blue Eyes, didn't he?"

"Lady Kisara – when it comes to the past, Seto is – "

"And after I _saved his life _when he nearly destroyed his mind trying to get here – trying to get to _you - _he never asked about it, did he?" she said, her eyes bright. "Did he?" Atem's silence was answer enough; she nodded rapidly, angrily. "I knew it. I _knew_ it. I knew I had to warn you."

"Warn _me_? Why?"

She looked uncomfortable, pity flashing through her eyes before she looked away. The internal debate raged once again, he could see it in her eyes as she considered her next words carefully. "Because the same could happen to you, if you aren't careful. If he cared the slightest bit about my life then, he doesn't now."

Kisara looked him straight in the eye, challenging him to contradict her. He didn't. She said, "What he cares about is _power. _Power and nothing else. Cease to be useful to him, and he won't give a second thought to your existence."

Atem was silent. His instinct was to defend Seto, his friend, and their road of battle, but… he couldn't find a way to deny what she had said. He knew Seto had seen visions of their past before and he knew he had always denied it. Always hated the mention of it.

But he hadn't thrown away Blue Eyes. Blue Eyes had been a constant, his mainstay, for as long as Atem had known Seto.

Kisara looked away, sheepishly tucking a strand of ivory hair behind her ear. "Maybe I speak too plainly… I know he is your friend, it isn't my place…" She looked him in the eye one last time. "But I wouldn't have felt right letting you go without at least warning you."

Atem looked down, searching for what to say. He found himself looking at the mural painted on his room again, the images of Seto and he battling _ka _as children. "I understand," he said, looking back at her. "I… thank you for speaking your mind."

"My mind? My heart." She bowed, turning quickly to go. "Safe travels."

Atem watched her leave. Just like Mahad, there was something ethereal about her presence, as though she wasn't all here. And she wasn't, he knew. Part of her had been with Seto's Blue Eyes, guarding him from afar.

Atem collapsed onto his bed, on top of the mess of clothes he'd given up on packing. His thoughts raced, Kisara's words sticking most of all. He turned them over and over in his head as he looked around his room. Trying to find something, anything that would help him in the modern world.

But there was nothing, because he decided he didn't really need to pack. There was nothing he wanted to take with him, given that he'd be coming back soon.


	6. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Complications

"What _is _he?" Mokuba snapped. "Is he a ghost? Did you kidnap a ghost?"

"No! He's – it's Solid Vision. He's projecting onto Solid Vision," Kaiba said. He hurried to the desk in the lab, his personal computer. If Atem was Solid Vision, he could fix him like Solid Vision. It was just another engineering problem for him to solve, that was all. Seto jabbed at the mouse, trying to wake his computer from sleep. Dammit, it was turned off. Why the hell was it turned off? He jabbed the power button to turn it on, abusing both his mouse and keyboard to get it working faster. "Come on, _come on_-"

"You got the data I needed!" Atem said. Kaiba span around and Mokuba nearly jumped out of his skin as they both came face to face with the AI. He was watching the real Atem with avid interest, his eyes turning bright blue as flashes of data travelled across his irises. "Finally. What took you so long?"

"Who told you to turn on?" Mokuba snapped. "Just-"

"Wait!" Seto cried. The damn computer still hadn't come on, so he rounded the desk and beckoned the fake Atem over. "He's Solid Vision, like you. Scan him! Do something- anything, _now_!"

The fake Atem tilted his head to the side, impassive. Watching this not-Atem fail to show the slightest bit of human feeling as he stared at the real Atem's lifeless body hit Kaiba straight between the eyes. The hologram was a complete and total failure. It wasn't Atem at all. A long second passed. No one moved or spoke. Finally the hologram nodded. He turned to the pod, looked Atem up and down, then turned back to Kaiba.

"There is nothing wrong," he said calmly.

"Are you _stupid?_" Seto snapped. "Look at him! He –" And he gave up wasting his time trying to explain and went back to trying to assault his computer into showing some sign of life.

"Seto-" Mokuba said, his voice trembling.

"Just give me a second," Seto said, mistyping his password and slamming his finger down on the biometric login instead. Was this a bad idea? Should he just try and use his duel disk to elevate the power Atem was feeding from instead?

"Seto, look," Mokuba whispered.

Seto looked in time to see Atem stir. He turned and snapped at the hologram, "Shutdown! Now!" and raced past its disappearing form to the pod. Seto reached in - still a little tripped out by being able to grab Atem's solid shoulder - and shook him. Atem frowned, his face scrunching a little before his eyes opened the tiniest amount. A thin flash of red became visible, the eyes unfocused before they searched upwards, finding Kaiba.

"…Kaiba," he said slowly, an odd crackle to his voice like there was static beneath it. "It's you."

"Excuse me?" Seto spluttered. " 'It's you'? Is that all you have to say for yourself?"

Atem shut his eyes again, raising a hand lethargically to his head and knocking his crown out of place. He nodded. Seto shook him again.

"What? Was that a yes?"

Atem tried to push him off, opening his eyes and staring at him with an irate look. "Yes," he croaked. Despite himself, Mokuba laughed. Seto gave him a look and he tried to restrain himself, settling down into sniggers. Atem looked over towards him. A slow smile spread over his face. "…Mokuba? You look so… grown up."

Mokuba's smile faded instantly. He fidgeted with the sleeves on his suit. "It's only been six months."

"Has it? But you cut your hair…"

"Atem, focus." Seto shook his shoulder harder. "I need you to tell me what's wrong."

Atem turned his head back towards Seto, sinking against the pod headrest. "Wrong?"

Seto dug his nails so hard into Atem's shoulder the monarch winced. Good. That meant he could feel _something. _"You stopped moving," Seto growled. "You weren't responding."

"Right. That." Atem rubbed his temples, looking sheepishly over at Seto. "I was just…recharging."

"Recharging," Kaiba repeated. "You were just _recharging_."

Atem nodded, looking like he was bracing himself for a scolding.

"And you couldn't restrain yourself to stay awake more than five seconds after landing?"

Atem glared, but there was no fire behind it. "I hadn't exactly planned to black out, Kaiba. Using my power to cross dimensions took a lot out of me, and I had to do it recently when I possessed Y- when I helped defeat Aigami."

"Then what? You're saying you're tired?"

"I suppose," Atem grumbled. He was making an effort to sit up straighter in the pod but it was plain to see that he was exhausted. "Just give me…" He grasped the side of the pod so hard his knuckles went white, pushing himself up into a wobbly standing position. Kaiba's hand hovered by his elbow, unsure of what to do if he fell.

"Wow," Mokuba said, "That's…that's a lot of gold."

"Mokuba, can you get Isono?" Kaiba said, taking Atem roughly by the arms and lifting him down himself and planting him on the floor before he could protest. It unnerved him how light he was, like he was lifting a small bird and not a person. "Ask him to dismiss any staff in the west part of the manor. And have him call the team from the AI project– actually, just Martell and Vale. I need their equipment. And-"

"Who are Martell and Vale?" Mokuba interjected.

"I meant-" Kaiba struggled to remember their first names. "Mikase and Kousei. Ask them to take the equipment to one of the guest rooms. We'll meet them there."

Mokuba reached for the communicator built into his collar and for the first time his eyes met Seto's. Seto didn't think he meant to look, because anger flashed through Mokuba's expression before he could hide it. And Seto could see he was trying to hide it, to restrain it. Atem was right. Mokuba was looking more grown up by the day.

Then his gaze went to Atem, who had slumped against the pod. Atem's focus was all bent around trying to keep himself upright. "Mokuba?" Seto tried again. "…Please?"

Mokuba nodded, curtly, and looked away. He turned his back and started speaking rapidly into his collar. Seto turned to Atem.

"Kaiba, there is no need for concern. I-"

"I don't know what the hell that was, and I don't care for things I don't understand." Kaiba checked the device strapped to Atem's arm again and grabbed an armful of equipment from out of the pod. "But you're clearly in no fit state to duel, so I'm taking you somewhere I can set up a better lab."

"A _lab_?" Atem straightened up, reanimating. "Kaiba, I will not be poked and prodded like an animal!"

"And you won't be. But I need to be sure nothing is wrong," Kaiba took his arm, pulling him again but the Pharaoh planted his heels, making a damned good effort of staying rooted to the spot. Kaiba was a man of little patience and was sure he could overpower the short monarch pretty easily, but he refrained. Just this once. "_Atem. _While you are in _my _home, sustained by _my _technology, you are my guest. And if I think a guest of mine is unwell, I make it a point that they get the _best of care. _Understand?"

Atem stopped pulling back, but twisted his arm out of Kaiba's grip anyway. "If we must. But I just need a moment, Kaiba. You need care first – food, water… This fuss is unnecessary…" He lost conviction as he spoke, looking around aimlessly and squinting against the harsh lab lights. "…What happened to Mokuba?"

Kaiba looked over his shoulder to find Mokuba had vanished out of the door without him noticing. Seto swallowed. The fact that he had had little to drink in two days became suddenly apparent. His throat was so dry. He realised he was desperate for a drink. "He must have gone on ahead."

He looked back to Atem. The Pharaoh was leaning heavily against the pod, watching him with a look that said that was a lie and they both knew it.

Atem was so wobbly that Seto practically had to support him along the short walk to the first guest room they could find. His staff had been keeping them in a good condition, so he managed to find a pretty spotless room without much trouble. This was something of a minor miracle considering Mokuba had the habit of adopting a different spare room each day while working on KC material or schoolwork.

The bed was an expensive one, like most in the manor, so it was tall at the sides. Kaiba cleared his throat awkwardly when the Pharaoh showed no desire to move. "Think you can climb up?" he asked. Atem nodded, not looking up. He only had only gotten more withdrawn in the walk, his head starting to hang low and all his focus going into putting one foot in front of another.

Seto helped him over to the bed, yanking the covers back and letting the Pharaoh hoist himself up. His hand caught the golden plate on Atem's shoulders and he was startled by how cold it was to the touch. Atem didn't notice him jerk away. He just collapsed against the backboard and started lethargically removing some of his jewellery and his cape.

"Just leave it – leave it there," Kaiba said, grabbing them from his hands and dumping them on the side table for him. The desk looked too far away so he dragged over one of the drawers to the foot of the bed for a makeshift table and started setting up his equipment. His laptop came on faster than his PC did, at least. He was definitely replacing that piece of garbage in his lab at the soonest opportunity. That kind of boot up time was just unacceptable for Kaiba Corp equipment.

"…What are you doing?" Atem asked.

"I need to create a field with the same frequency you're on. As soon as the rest of the equipment arrives-"

Just then there was a knock at the door. "It's Martell," she called through the door. "Vale and I brought the equipment."

"Thank you. Leave it there and dismiss yourselves for the night."

There was a shocked pause. "Are you sure, sir? We were supposed to complete calibration tests for the new Solid Vision VR game."

This was news to Seto; Mokuba must have really moved things forward in the few days he had been away. "Don't worry about that. Tell any other teams working overtime to take an early night."

He'd said the wrong thing. There was an even longer shocked pause outside the door. Atem stifled a chuckled behind his hand and Kaiba shot him a look, quickly adding, "Expect a memo tomorrow morning with directions. And yes, you are dismissed."

Another pause before both of them agreed. He could tell they were still there, though, waiting just outside the door. "Mr Kaiba," Vale said, "We're glad that you returned from your business trip."

And then there were footsteps retreating down the hall. Seto waited a few moments before going to the door and checking outside. Vale and Martell had gone and left him a neat pile of equipment outside the door, including the generators he needed. Just then, Isono appeared from around the corner.

"Sir," he said, with a bow of his head. "It's good to see you. Mokuba said you'd be returning shortly."

"Did he? I mean, of course he did," Kaiba said. He stooped to pick up the heaviest of the cases and immediately Isono cut him off, grabbing it for him. His bodyguard made to go into the room but Kaiba stopped him.

"Sir?"

"Isono." Kaiba tried to reach for a steadying tone and had no idea what that sounded like. So he just cleared his throat and pulled himself up to full height. "What you're about to see… it may be a bit of a shock. But keep in mind that sometimes progress comes as a shock."

"Sir." Isono chuckled. "There is rarely a day when you don't shock me in some way."

"I…see. Well, just – you know. Keep that in mind." And he headed into the room first to avoid alarming Atem with the sudden appearance of a stranger. Atem was sitting with his legs folded up, staring off into the distance. "Pharaoh, there's someone with me. You can trust him."

And he stood out of the way so that Isono could get a clear look. At first his bodyguard looked underwhelmed, like he was just looking at Yugi. Then the realisation started to dawn on him, his expression turning to confusion and then complete shock. He opened his mouth to speak and then shut it again. "Hello," he said. "Nice to meet you."

"Hello," Atem responded. "Though I think we may have met before. Although I – I wasn't…"

"Like this," Isono finished, looking pale. "Mr Kaiba…"

"This is the Pharaoh Atem. Atem, Isono. Isono, Atem." Seto said, perching on the end of the bed. "I brought him from the Afterlife."

Atem snorted. "What am I, luggage?"

Kaiba ignored him. "He's projecting his spirit onto my Solid Vision system. I have to make sure the system is stable but this situation _must _remain contained."

"Of course." Isono folded his hands neatly before himself. "This is game-changing, Mr Kaiba. Discretion is important. Who else knows besides those gathered here and Mokuba?"

"No one. Just to be sure, I need you to scrub the CCTV footage in the south area of the manor from the last hour."

"Done." Isono looked over at Atem, who was rubbing at his temples again. "Are you all right? You look a little tired."

Atem looked up, surprised. "I'm fine. Thank you."

"It must have been a long trip. If you need to rest while we handle this, you can." Isono turned to Kaiba. "Do _you_ need anything, sir?"

Kaiba rustled in a nearby drawer and found a bottle of water. It was probably one Mokuba had left in here, but it would do for now. "Some food would be good. I'd even take something from Burger World right now."

Atem laughed suddenly, then stopped as suddenly as he'd started. Isono barely blinked an eye. "They may be closed right now, sir. But allow me to arrange something. Master Mokuba has not eaten either." He turned and started talking rapid fire into his earpiece before leaving the room.

Kaiba refocused his attention on the problem at hand. He set up the Solid Vision field generators around the bed, switching them on and forming a miniature virtualised arena with which to work with. Atem watched him placidly.

Seto stopped to look him in the eye. "Do you feel any pain?"

"Spirits don't feel pain the same way you do."

He gripped the bridge of his nose and sighed, trying to suppress the headache he could feel coming on. "Answer the question, would you, Pharaoh?"

"I don't feel any pain, Seto Kaiba."

He folded his arms. "We're on full name basis now?"

"We are when you call me Pharaoh. Don't call me by title any longer, all right?"

Kaiba snorted. "I was just kidding around."

"I know you were." He rubbed at his eyes again. Seto was starting to suspect only stubbornness had kept him awake this long. He had known that feeling many times himself, sitting late and alone in a top floor office, so exhausted he felt sick with it. Atem met his eyes, suddenly more alert. "About the duel-"

"Forget about it. Not until I know you won't go out like a firefly." He went over to his computer and booted up his program for connecting to the Solid Vision field. It had picked up the Solid Vision Atem was projecting onto easily enough, but he needed more than that. Kaiba set up an overlay to work at the frequency he had tried to elevate his brainwaves to, then tuned the generators into it.

At first he saw nothing. He kept making minute adjustments to the frequency, checking back on the monitor as he did so. Still nothing, and still nothing. Suddenly Atem shivered. Kaiba looked back on the screen and there was a bright pulse of energy on the monitor, right where Atem was sitting. He looked up, smiling.

Atem laughed nervously. "What? What's wrong?"

"I can see you. I can see you right here on the screen."

"What? Really?"

Kaiba brought the computer over so he could see, stretching the cable in the process. "Look. You're _here. _You're going to be just fine."

Atem was decidedly less excited at this breakthrough than he was. He looked once and then leant back into the pillows. "I could have told you that much."

Kaiba glared at him. Just then there was a knock at the door. Mokuba was standing there with quilts in his arms. He came in and dropped them on the bed before Atem. Both he and Kaiba looked at the quilts, then up at Mokuba.

The younger Kaiba just shrugged. "I thought you might be cold. You're Egyptian, after all."

Atem smiled. "Thank you, Mokuba. I appreciate it."

Mokuba turned to go. "You're our guest."

"Thank you. Really." And he reached out like he wanted to grab Mokuba's arm. But then he stopped. And then the moment was gone. Mokuba had left and Isono came in, a takeout bag in his hand.

"Why don't you let me attend to this, Mr Kaiba?" Isono said, gesturing towards the generators and Atem. "It's getting dark, and you must be hungry."

"I don't need attending to," Atem said.

Kaiba checked his monitors again. Everything looked stable and that food smelt really good in the unhealthiest and best possible way. "All right," he said. "I need to speak with Mokuba. Can you handle things here?"

"I don't need _handling," _Atem said, more loudly.

"Very good, sir," Isono said, bowing.

Kaiba took the bag of food from Isono and waved to Atem as he headed out the door while Atem called after him, "I said I don't need-"

Kaiba carried down takeout down the corridor. He was tired himself but the night was far from over. He figured he'd try the lounge Mokuba usually preferred and ask him to eat. But then he turned a corner and nearly walked straight into his little brother. He was leaning against the wall, arms folded, eyes cold.

"We have a lot to talk about," Mokuba said. But before Seto could even think of the right thing to say he had reached into the bag, taken out one of the containers and walked off. "Too bad I don't feel like it right now," he called over his shoulder.

And the door slammed after him, leaving Seto stood alone in the hall.

In the end Seto didn't think he could return to Atem's room until a suitable amount of time had passed. He didn't feel like explaining that Mokuba wasn't speaking to him and he ought to keep out of Isono's way while he ate. He was a staunch believer in keeping mess confined to kitchen areas and given how hungry he was he doubted his ability to keep himself from making a mess.

So he went to his preferred living room space and sat up at the breakfast bar. He grabbed some cutlery and didn't bother with plates, hungry enough to eat straight from the container. God, it tasted so good… he tried to pace himself to avoid the inevitable stomach pain, but it was hard. The silence in the room was unnerving him, so he flipped on the TV above the counter to try and catch up. He'd only been gone a couple of days, but he really wasn't used to being out of the loop of the news cycles.

There wasn't too much he'd missed – turned out the world could keep spinning without noticing Seto Kaiba's absence.

He clicked the TV off again and dumped the remote on the counter. Somehow the rest of the world didn't interest him right now.

Seto walked down the length of the hall until he got back to Atem's room. He and Isono were having a quiet conversation about something. They broke off when Atem realised Seto was there.

"Are you feeling better?" Atem asked.

"Yes. Are you?"

"I'm fine," Atem said, unconvincingly. Isono rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

Kaiba nodded, considering. His instinct was to stay with Atem, but he was practically dead on his feet himself. "I'm going to take a nap, but tell Isono if you need anything. He'll call me." And he typed a text into his smart watch, telling Isono: _I'll be next door. _

Atem looked about to argue, but in the end he just nodded. Kaiba still couldn't get used to seeing him sitting there large as life. He didn't look right against the soft electric lights in the room, not after seeing him in the past, in Egypt.

Kaiba suddenly realised Atem and Isono were staring at him; that he should move or say something. "All right, well – I'll just be…"

"Kaiba," Atem said.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for…letting me stay," Atem said carefully, then smiled softly, amused about something. But his eyes were sincere, taking on that super serious look again. "Thank you for letting me stay in your house."

Kaiba paused, about to snark back at him. But he couldn't find it in himself to do it. "You're welcome," he said.

A/N: So Atem's all right after all! (Probably). Sorry about that cliffhanger 😊 Expect some short interludes soon and then I'll be back with the next chapter soon


	7. Interlude 3

Interlude 3

Mokuba finished his food quicker than he should have done. Because now he had all night to sit and stew in his room, and Seto had obviously decided that he just needed space, because no one came to speak to him. Well, whatever. He supposed it only made sense. Kaiba had barely been able to spare him a bit of attention when he had the Atem Sim to duel with. Now he had the real thing, so Mokuba doubted he'd get a look in for some time.

He grumbled to himself and dumped down the empty plastic containers on the chest of drawers, not caring if he splattered food everywhere. Let Seto worry about it. Let him clean up the mess.

Mokuba flopped back onto the bed, trying to figure out what he should do. The problem with shutting himself off like this was he was condemned to try and avoid Seto the rest of the night. There were sleeping clothes and toothbrushes in every guest room so it didn't matter much that he wasn't in his own, but his computer and game systems weren't in this room. There was some novel or other sitting on the chest of drawers, but he really didn't feel like reading.

Instead he shrugged out of his jacket and dumped it on the floor, then pulled off his tie and gave that the same treatment. It was Friday. He didn't have to worry about his clothes today. He didn't have to worry about anything that he didn't want to.

And he lay down, turning onto his side to curl up and take a nap.

It could wait. Everything could wait.

Mokuba opened his eyes, blinking in the dark. He rolled over, eyes slowly focusing on the sight of dark curtains. What time was it? He rubbed his eyes and pulled himself over to the corner of the bed. Seto liked to keep a clock in every room, he could read the time off it if only he could find it.

His hand bumped the bedside table and felt through the dark until he could find something square. He messed with the buttons until the screen lit up: _22:15. _Earlier than he was expecting. He must just have dozed off. His throat was dry, too, and he needed to clean his teeth…

Mokuba tapped his hands on the bed, knowing it was useless. He couldn't hope to get back to sleep without a drink to help him. He would have to go get one and just hope that he didn't run into Seto. Sighing, he stretched and slid off the bed. The manor was quiet, moonlight filtering through the window at the end of the hall.

Mokuba fetched his glass of water without running into anyone, then turned to head back to his own room. But something stopped him.

No matter how mad he was, he wanted to see with his own eyes that his brother and Atem were all right. He stopped by Seto's room first, and sure enough, he wasn't there. That didn't surprise him much; Seto would sleep anywhere except in a bed when he was focused on something. Though he supposed that meant Seto was still working…

Whatever. He tried the lab next, and sure enough, Seto was there, sleeping on his desk. Mokuba couldn't see what he'd been working on since his PC had locked itself down, but there was a mini generator sitting next to him that Mokuba guessed he must have been refining.

Mokuba looked around for Kaiba's coat and found it flung over the side of the pod. He picked it up and rested it over Seto's shoulders before leaving the room.

Then he went to Atem's room and found the door had been left open a fraction. He moved to the side, careful not to let anyone see he was there, and peered inside.

Atem was there, lying on his side with his eyes shut and the covers left pulled down enough that the generator strapped on his arm could be seen. He was still as a statue and as Mokuba looked closer he realised with a mounting dread that he showed no sign of breathing.

He moved closer, disturbing the door a fraction and heard Isono say softly, "Mokuba?"

Mokuba looked over and spotted the bodyguard still sitting before the computer. He let himself take one step inside the room. "Is he…?"

"He's all right. He's sleeping."

"He's not breathing, Isono."

"Why would he? He doesn't need oxygen to live as we do."

Mokuba nodded. He understood it intellectually, but he still didn't like it. He tried to change the subject. "How'd you – how'd you talk him into going to sleep?"

Isono chuckled. "I have experience in handling stubborn teenagers."

Just then, without even stirring or shifting in his sleep, Atem opened his eyes and spotted Mokuba before he could back out of the room. "Mokuba."

"I just wanted to check on you," Mokuba muttered, turning quickly to go. "Night."

"Wait, please, Mokuba." Atem grabbed Mokuba's wrist, his fingertips cold like marble. Mokuba shivered involuntarily and Atem immediately let go. "Sorry."

Mokuba ran his fingers over the spot, trying to shake off that cold touch. "It's fine. What do you want?"

"Could you… answer a question?"

Mokuba felt a chill of déjà vu go up his spine. "Just one question?"

"Yes. One will do."

"Ok. I guess."

There was a pause. "How have you been?" Atem finally said.

Mokuba paused. The hologram's question rang through his mind: _Why did you think you could win against me using your brother's cards would be any different than the first time you tried it? _The hologram had never asked him anything about his life. The hologram had never cared.

"I'm – fine."

"Really. Are you still in school?"

"I get homeschooled a lot nowadays. I don't have time for a set schedule."

"Really…" Atem cleared his throat, awkwardly. "You probably don't want to hear this from me, but… I'm glad you're doing well."

Mokuba swallowed hard. He had been friends with the Pharaoh, once. It hadn't really occurred to him until now, in the face of Seto's overwhelming obsession, that he had missed Atem too.

He clenched his fist. "Can I go now?"

The bed creaked as Atem shifted his position. "Of course."

Mokuba headed quickly to the door, then paused. "Once my brother has what he wants, you'll go home, right?"

"What he wants?"

Mokuba turned back, met Atem's eye. "The duel. That's what he's here for, right?" Atem's face fell, but Mokuba couldn't help himself. "Once he's finished with that, he'll send you home, right?"

Atem looked down. He didn't answer. Mokuba caught Isono's eye. He could see the bodyguard sensed something was off, but didn't quite know what. "Anyway," Mokuba said, "Goodight."

"Yes," Atem said. "Goodnight."

He didn't give the Pharaoh time to answer as he headed out the door. As he walked back to his room he tried to talk himself out of feeling bad about it. The bratty little brother was a role he'd long since outgrown, but he had a right to it. The pair of them owed him an apology and he didn't feel like being on his best behaviour until he got one.

The problem was, he doubted he'd be that lucky.


	8. Interlude 4

Interlude 4

Smoke filled the night sky, thick enough that Seto struggled to breathe for it. The ground beneath them shook with quakes. And up above, the sound of rumbling thunder.

The Pharaoh walked ahead of him. As lightning struck, Seto saw that his cape was torn and dirty and his jewellery dishevelled. "There is little time. With the civilians evacuated, I can use the palace for the final battle against Zorc."

Seto followed him to a broken down wall, watching Atem awkwardly lift himself onto it to climb through. Seto followed, and they came to a garden overlooked by a massive building – the palace. The destruction he could see at the palace complex up ahead hadn't touched the garden yet; it was untouched, almost hidden from the rest of the world.

Then the ground shook again and Atem physically winced.

"There is _so little time," _he said again, his voice tight with pain.

"Pharaoh, the Thief King Bakura. Allow me to take care of him."

Atem sighed. He led the way up a path hidden by hedges on either side. The only light came from up ahead, the lightning picking out the tension in the Pharaoh's back and shoulders, like he was carrying something heavy as he walked.

"I need you to go back," Atem said. Lightning struck, almost deafeningly loud. His head lowered, his shoulders dropped. "You have to…go back."

Seto frowned. Something was wrong, very deeply wrong. "Pharaoh-" he said, reaching out to grab his arm and turn him around.

Lightning struck, lighting the Pharaoh from behind. Red eyes met his and in the flash of light Seto saw the blood everywhere. Down the side of his face, running down the sides of his crown and alongside the eye carving. Seto stepped back, looking down and saw more of it – more blood, more marks, more wounds.

He met the Pharaoh's eyes again, his own wide and horrified. Atem looked back at him with a thousand yard stare, and a look in his eyes Seto had only seen once or twice: resignation.

"You have to go back," Atem whispered. "I… would prefer that you do not see what comes next."

Seto bolted upright in his seat, panting. The lab. He was in the lab. It was just a dream. But he couldn't shake the image, the shine of the blood, the smell of the smoke…

He got up, surprised when his coat slipped from his shoulders to a heap on the floor. Someone had put it on him, Isono probably? But he couldn't think about that now. He ran a shaking hand through his hair and headed out the door, his heart pounding in his chest.

It was stupid. He knew it was stupid, but still… he hurried down the corridors regardless, almost tripping over his long legs. He reached the door, taking a deep breath before opening it. There was Atem lying on his side, sleeping peacefully by the look of it. No blood, no marks. Isono was sleeping in a chair by the desk, his head dropped back in his repose.

The room was peaceful, quiet. He was being stupid. Obviously it was just a dream.


	9. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: In the Kaiba mansion

A/N: So now the story proper can finally get into gear. Yayyy… as always, R & R please!

Light filtered in through the small gap in the curtains, rousing Atem from his stupor. Since his entrapment in the Puzzle he'd long since become used to the odd way his consciousness drifted when he slept until he snapped back into wakefulness. But after three thousand years he was unused to comfort – first his bed within the room they'd kept for him in the palace, now the lap of luxury in Kaiba's manor. He could have happily stayed here for the rest of the day, but he'd have to rise and face the day. Atem cracked an eye open and checked around the room. Isono had gone and in his place was Kaiba, slumped back in Isono's chair, sleeping.

Had he been here part of the night? Atem didn't want to wake him yet, so it was the perfect excuse to recline into the copious pillows and relax for five more minutes. The truth was he had been working nonstop in the Afterlife, using magic more often than he ought to, in his new role as the Horakhtian. He doubted that it was just coming to Yugi's aid and the crossing that had caused his tiredness, but he'd be damned if he admitted that to Kaiba.

He shut his eyes, letting all the tension out of his muscles. It was so hard to believe this was real. But then, Kaiba was always like this, even as Priest Seto. He would never accept limits, even in Ancient Egypt. But maybe he didn't need to worry about what his journey would set precedents for. Once Kaiba had what he wanted, he would be satisfied, Atem supposed…

Atem slid out of bed, testing his legs. Good. He could stand without issue. He went to get washed up and noticed when he'd finished that Isono had left him some clothes on the dresser. There was a note reading: _Master Atem, I had some trouble finding some clothes in your size so I took the liberty of buying some more. Please let me know what you would prefer in future. _

They were simple clothes – just a shirt and trousers, the dark blue not dissimilar from Yugi's old school jacket. Atem shook off the thought and went back into the en suite to change. He didn't like the thought of discarding all his old clothes, though, so he clipped his earrings back on and went to wake Kaiba.

Atem reached for Kaiba's hand but before he could make contact Kaiba's eyes opened. Kaiba pushed himself up from the back of the chair, stretching out his back and his arms.

"Good morning," Atem said.

"Morning." Kaiba rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes. "All right?"

"Yes. You?"

"Fine."

"…Were you here all night?"

"Some of it. I wanted Isono to get some rest." His blue eyes turned suddenly sharp. "Speaking of Isono, while you're here you need protection. I'm assigning someone to you."

Atem pinched the bridge of his nose. It was entirely too early for this. "Kaiba-"

"Not right now," Kaiba said, standing up and rolling his neck. "First I need breakfast." Then he stopped and looked Atem over. "When did you get changed?"

"This morning. Isono left it for me."

"Hmph. At least you don't look like you belong in a history museum."

Atem raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you say you wanted breakfast?"

Atem didn't really know the way around Kaiba manor, so he followed Kaiba to the nearest kitchen. Kaiba went to the fridge and retrieved some soup, putting it into the microwave to warm up. Atem boosted up at the breakfast bar, resting his arms on the chrome. His limbs still felt odd somehow, like he had water inside him. He absently fiddled with the generator on his arms, wondering if it needed tuning still.

"Do you need that adjusting?" Kaiba asked.

"No, no. It's fine."

Suddenly Mokuba waked into the room in his pajamas. He looked at the two of them, grabbed up a banana before anyone could say anything, and rushed out of the kitchen again.

"So he's angry with _you_ too?" Atem said. "That's new."

"I don't know what you mean," Kaiba said, turning on the wall mounted TV and angling himself away from Atem. He flipped channels until he suddenly tuned into some footage from the tournament on a news program. The clip was of Kaiba and Yugi duelling. Atem sat straighter in his chair, leaning forward to catch the combos Yugi was using under the news voiceover.

Then they switched back to the studio and he was forced to pay attention to what the anchor was saying. "…leaving experts to wonder, was Kaiba Seto's insistence on duelling the 'spirit within a golden pyramid' just another elaborate publicity stunt from a flamboyant CEO?"

Seto grunted his annoyance and flipped the TV off. " 'Flamboyant'," he growled. "_Pegasus_ was flamboyant, not me."

Atem debated asking if Seto had really announced he intended to duel the Puzzle to a full stadium of people, but decided he'd better not. Instead he looked down at the chrome, running a finger over the cool surface as he psyched himself up to ask, "…How is he doing?"

Atem could feel Kaiba's eyes on him without looking up. "You mean Yugi?"

Atem nodded.

"Hmm. Word is, he's developing a game of his own. If it's good enough Kaiba Corp may publish it."

"That would be a good start for a career, wouldn't it?"

"Second to none. Of course."

"And the others?"

Kaiba shrugged. "They all graduated successfully. I think Mokuba told me Mazaki went to America to pursue some Broadway dream. You probably know more about that, though."

"Jonouchi and Honda?"

"Past them graduating, I don't know much. Honda was working for his father in some factory. The mutt was actually trying to make it as a pro duelist." Kaiba snickered and Atem gave him a hard look. Kaiba cleared his throat and went back to his soup. "…He won a few tournaments."

"Of course."

They were quiet again. Atem was listening to the quiet of the manor, grateful for it. The palace wasn't noisy, but it was busy. He didn't often have a still moment like this. Then he noticed Kaiba looked discomfited. He kept stirring his soup without eating it.

"Aren't you going to ask?" Seto finally said, staring into his soup.

"Ask what?"

Seto looked him in the eye. "If you can see them. Yugi and the rest of your friends?"

"I-" Atem hesitated, shaking his head. He thought of how Yugi had looked when he got to see him that brief moment at the tournament. More grown up than ever; happy and fulfilled. "No. No, there's no need."

Kaiba set down his spoon. His mouth flattened into a thin line, his jaw tight. "Really."

"Yes. Really. He doesn't need disruptions right now, when he's doing so well."

Kaiba still looked sour. Atem tipped his head to one side. "Besides, you always said how much you disliked all of them. Wouldn't you rather I didn't see them?"

But Kaiba didn't answer. He just went back to his soup, going back to his usual air of cold indifference. Atem watched him for a moment, still confused, then slid down from the breakfast bar. He'd barely touched the ground before Kaiba said, "I have to do some damage control this morning. Can you behave yourself and stay in this part of the manor until then?"

Atem considered dragging his heels after that remark, but considering Kaiba wouldn't be in this mess if he hadn't come to the Afterlife, Atem supposed he could be afforded a morning's peace. "Very well. Come back when you're able."

Kaiba looked around, meeting his eye again for the first time since he'd brought up Yugi. "Isono will bring you a phone. If you feel like building a deck, there should be a spare duel disk in the lab."

A duel disk. Atem nodded, an odd twist in the bottom of his stomach.

"Sure. I'll do that," he said. Then he backed off, heading straight back to the room he'd been staying in. Isono wasn't there, so he had a quiet moment to think.

What was he supposed to do now? If he'd been back in Aaru, he wouldn't even have to think about it. He'd be busy with the days work, he wouldn't even have time to _think, _period.

A deck… he knew he'd have to build one eventually, but… Atem slumped back onto the bed, the strong urge to sleep the rest of the day overcoming him. He stared up at the ceiling, allowing his mind to wander. It was a surprise, getting the whole day to himself like this. He would have thought Kaiba would want to duel immediately. Get it over with.

Atem turned his head to the side and stared out of the window. They must have risen early. The light outside his window was the pale light of morning.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Atem pulled himself off the bed, finding Isono at the door.

The bodyguard bowed and offered hm a phone. "Master Kaiba asked me to deliver this to you."

"Thank you," Atem said, taking it from him. He fumbled to turn it on and managed to get it to work, the screen lighting up with a classy blue Kaiba Corp logo and (of course) an outline of a dragon.

"He also told me to tell you to use it however you please," Isono said, suddenly refusing to meet his eye.

"I see." Atem didn't know how to take that, so he pushed it aside. "Kaiba mentioned something about… a spare duel disk and a lab?"

"Right, the lab…about that-" Isono hesitated for a second, then shook his head. "It will be in the same lab that you arrived in. The door code is 190-Alpha-7. Can you remember that?"

"Of course. Thank you."

Isono paused a moment longer. "And – Master Atem?"

"Just Atem is fine."

Isono paused again. Atem knew that look well – the look of someone who had a lot to say but couldn't decide if it was his place to speak.

"Please, Isono, speak your mind. I would value your input. Is this about Kaiba?"

"Not exactly… it's about both of you."

Atem raised an eyebrow. "Go on…"

"Master Kaiba has always cared for the competition against you, as I'm sure you've noticed. For six months now he has been driven solely by the thought of fighting you again."

Atem nodded, readying himself for Isono to tell him that he needed to go back once it was over, as Mokuba had.

Isono took a deep breath. "So I wanted to ask you… once you finally duel Master Kaiba, would you consider staying a little longer?"

Atem blinked. "What?"

Isono stepped back, bowing quickly again. "Please consider it." Then he turned and walked away, leaving Atem stood there, confused. He must have known Atem was watching him, because he looked back. He took his sunglasses off and met Atem's eyes, a sincere look in his own. Atem felt could see more than ever how much Isono cared for Kaiba, which only confused him more.

Maybe he should head to the lab after all.

The pod was sitting in the same spot it had when they had landed, though it looked as though someone had tuned it up and cleaned it. Atem ran his hand over the edge of the leather upholstery. He remembered that cool leather against his skin, the first thing he'd really been aware of when they landed.

Atem moved away, heading back towards the desk. Had they told him where the duel disk was? In a drawer or something? Normally he was good at retaining information, but he still felt lethargic from sleeping for so long. Atem rested one hand on the countertop, pressing against the chrome white surfaces to see if any of them opened. As much as he appreciated the conveniences of the modern world, some of the design in Kaiba Corp was too futuristic for his tastes.

As Atem was feeling around for something to open, his hand knocked the mouse. A flash of blue caught his eye and he straightened up. The screen had apparently been left on, a spinning blue disk animated above the letters _DUELIST A.I. PROGRAM, EXPERIMENTAL. _

Then the logo changed, a red flame blooming from the bottom and turning into a dragon before disappearing.

Atem barely had time to figure out what that meant before he heard a soft voice say, "There you are."

His voice.

Atem turned and came face to face with himself.

Except it _wasn't _him. It was the old him, how he was in Battle City. Staring back at him, larger than life. Atem looked the creature up and down in mute horror, and the mirror copied him.

"What the hell?" Atem said. The fake copy peered closely at him.

"_That_ was it," the copy said, looking pleased. "The eye colour." And it tapped the sides of its temples, its eyes flashing from purple to red. "And the hair…"

"What the _hell _are you doing?" Atem snapped.

"The hair is wrong," the creature replied, amicably. "The details need adjusting." And it shook its head, minute adjustments working their way across its hair. _Atem's _hair. "Should I adjust my skin colour too?"

"Don't you _dare!" _Atem's voice cracked like a whip and he marched forward, glaring the mirror in the eye. "What are you? Who are you?_"_

"My name is Yugi Mutou. I am seventeen years old and the undisputed king of games. I'm Japanese and from the town of Domino."

"Stop, just stop. _Who made you_?"

The mirror looked taken aback by the question. "Seto Kaiba," he said, "Of course."

Atem choked on nothing. The mirror smirked at him, the funhouse mirror version of his own smirk.

"Yes, Kaiba created me. He gave me all your duels to learn from, every duel in every tournament. And for the ones without footage, there was his own recollection. Move by move, Seto Kaiba remembers most things."

Atem felt a cold, heavy sinking feeling in his stomach. "Why? W-what for?"

The mirror smiled. "So that he would have something to duel against. What else?"

Atem's breathing was coming fast, shallow. "Has he – has he ever defeated you?"

"Yes. Once."

"And… then?" Atem said. He forced out the words, "What happened then?"

His reflection shrugged. He looked almost wistful. "He never sought me out again."

Atem looked down. He turned away from the puppet, his face twisting.

There wasn't much to do except wait, so Atem decided to take a nap. Kaiba had never told him not to, after all. Awhile later he heard the door open and Kaiba's voice say, "Pharaoh?"

Atem opened his eyes but made no move to get up. He stayed facing away from Kaiba, laid on his side. The light in the room had turned a reddish-orange, the sun beginning to set. "What is it?" he asked.

"I – wanted to ask you something," Kaiba said, sounding unsure. "Don't tell me you're still ill?"

"No. And I was never ill. I was just a little tired. That was all."

"All right…" Kaiba sounded irate. "Could you sit up? I want to speak with you."

"You want to ask me to duel," Atem said, not making any move to rise. "Don't you?"

"Well – yes. What were you expecting?"

Atem stared out of the window for a moment longer, watching the last of the light start to vanish under the window ledge. He sat up, still not looking over at Kaiba. He didn't know how to answer that question. After all, he _hadn't_ really expected anything else.

But instead he heard himself say, "No."

"Excuse me?"

Atem turned to face Kaiba. "You knew I was coming back for other reasons than just yours. There are issues I must resolve."

Kaiba's eyebrows practically disappeared into his hair. "Is that so? And how do you intend to do that?"

Atem slid his legs over the bed, standing up to square up to Kaiba. "I will go to Egypt. You will provide the means of getting there."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then you will be waiting for some time for your duel."

Kaiba was looking more and more annoyed by the second. "When did _that _become first on the _itinerary_? You realise how much time going to Egypt first will take?"

"Of course. I've travelled by plane to Egypt before." Atem shrugged. "I said it in Aaru, my priorities aren't the same as you."

Kaiba glared at him. "What the hell got into you today? You had all afternoon to build a deck and you couldn't even do that?"

Atem clenched his fist. "Don't _lecture _me," he said, feeling his hackles raise in a way that only Kaiba produced in him. "If you want a duel so badly, then find a _substitute _to help you."

Kaiba looked ready to snap, but Atem could see he didn't know what Atem was getting at. And Atem knew he couldn't bring himself to spell it out, not in a thousand years. And he knew already Kaiba wasn't about to shift on anything. Like usual, they were stuck.

"Egypt, huh?" Mokuba said. Kaiba spun around, revealing Mokuba standing there in the doorway. And for the first time since Atem had seen him again, Mokuba was smiling. "Can I come with?"


	10. Chapter 6

A/N: road trip! Please r&r!

It was a pain in the neck getting all the equipment on his private plane. But Kaiba didn't grumble, since Mokuba was openly excited about the trip.

"What are we going to do if someone recognises him?" he joked, settling into his seat as the others hurried around. Atem stood suddenly and hurried off the plane without a word. "Something I said?"

"Mokuba..." Kaiba rubbed his temples. Already he felt a headache coming on. "This is a secret, all right? You cannot tell anyone he is back." It suddenly occurred to him that he would definitely be for it if they ran into Ishizu and the others. Best not think about that now.

"Not even Yugi?"

"No," Seto said shortly, "Not even him."

"But in all seriousness, what if someone does notice? There aren't exactly many Egyptians with blond bangs and three colour hair, right?"

"Mokuba, no one can know." Seto clenched his fist against the seat. "Especially not his countrymen."

"Why?"

Just then Atem returned with a hooded coat in his hands. He settled back into his own seat, looking sheepish. "Sorry. I had to make sure-"

"Whatever." Kaiba shrugged, leaning back in his seat. "I'm taking a nap. Try not to make a lot of trouble until we get there, OK?"

Mokuba chuckled suddenly but Seto ignored it. He was too tired to deal with any of this.

When Seto came around he was surprised to find Atem and Mokuba quietly talking across the plane to one another. They both straightened up when they spotted Seto was awake. "They said we're nearly there," Mokuba said.

"How am I going to get through airport security?" Atem asked suddenly.

"You just thought of that now?" Mokuba said with such a streak of Kaiba sarcasm that Seto was struck with both pride and regret. Mokuba might have been speaking to them both but his mannerisms said otherwise.

"W-well..."

"We aren't about to get in trouble for smuggling Pharaohs into the country." He peered out the window. "We're landing near the shrine. Seto still has clearance to touchdown there."

"Really..."

He had barely finished his sentence before the plane lined itself up to land and touched down with a slight skid. Atem was about to bound out of his seat but Kaiba seized his arm. "Let Isono and the others finish running the checks on your generator. Your is a lot more finely tuned than the rest of the Solid Vision equipment."

Atem curbed his enthusiasm, clearly put out when he settled back into his seat. He was docile for once though, even allowing Isono to check the generator on his arm personally. Then he turned and looked out of the window and he suddenly went tense.

"Did I knock something, sir?" Isono asked. Atem didn't answer, too absorbed in looking out of the window. Kaiba followed his gaze. He didn't appear to be looking at the dig site. He was looking at the Valley of the Kings.

"Atem?" Kaiba tried.

He startled out of his reverie, turning around. "Sorry," he said. "It was nothing."

Suddenly Mokuba stood up, muttering, "I need air," before hurrying off the plane.

Atem rested his chin in his hand, wordlessly musing on something while Isono went back to checking the generator. Seto watched him, an acute longing for coffee coming over him. He had a feeling this was going to be a long trip.

As soon as had Atem gotten off the plane he put on the coat and pulled the hood up, somehow managing to contain all of his hair except a peek of lightning blond bangs beneath it. For a moment he stood still, just taking in the dig site and the surroundings. There weren't many KC staff at the site anymore; work had ceased after the puzzle pieces were recovered and the ones who had stayed were just guarding the site until instructions came through from Seto.

It occurred to Seto then that Mokuba hadn't issued any instructions in his absence, even though Seto had authorised him to do basically whatever he wished. Seto looked down at his little brother, finding his second in command shielding his eyes against the sun, facing away from both he and Atem. With the haircut and his new clothes, he looked every bit as Vice President in training. He looked grown up. Seto couldn't remember if he had told him as much.

"Mokuba-" he began.

Suddenly Atem started forwards, drawing everyone's attention as he hurried down into the dark of the dig site. Mokuba and Seto exchanged looks and for just a second Seto could feel their bond, feel it in the way he knew Mokuba was thinking, what is he doing now, just in the same way he was, before they both followed Atem down into the dark.

He was fast - Atem had already reached the underground ceremonial chambers by the time the Kaiba brothers caught up. The Pharaoh faced the hole where the dig site had been, before hurrying towards it and looking down.

Thankfully Atem's hood was still up, but the few Egyptians Seto had hired who were still at the site were looking at him curiously. Kaiba barked at them, "Everyone out! Report to the relief tent outside for final pay!" He caught Isono's eye, nodding and giving him a meaningful look. The bodyguard caught on immediately and hurried the staff, Egyptian and non alike, out of the ritual grounds. "There," he said, turning to Atem, "Now we have the place to ourselves-"

Atem jumped down into the dig hole. Kaiba groaned, exasperated but Mokuba just chuckled. Kaiba gave him a look, grumbling, "You've cheered up since yesterday."

Mokuba's smile faded. "At least things are interesting again," he mumbled.

He shoved past Seto and knelt down at the edge of the whole. "What're you doing down there, Pharaoh?"

"Do you have something secure?" he called back up. "Like a safe or a briefcase?"

"Um..." Mokuba looked back at Kaiba. He sighed and joined Mokuba at the edge, peering over. The Pharaoh was scrabbling in the dirt, arms full of the Millennium Items.

"Stop fooling around and get out of there!"

"I need to rebury them," he yelled back. "In a container that cannot be opened easily. Obviously just putting them in the ground wasn't enough."

Seto ignored the jibe. "And the Puzzle?"

"That too. I have no need for it anymore."

He threw the Scales up at Kaiba, almost hitting him in the nose. "Hey!"

"Catch!" He called and a barrage of the other items followed. Kaiba dodged, letting them all clang uselessly against the temple floor. Atem started to climb up, his hood falling back as he did so. Once at the top he took his coat off entirely, reaching to remove his Puzzle. The gold glinted in his hand and he looked at it pensively.

"Are you really going to take that apart?"

Mokuba chimed in, "And after all that money you spent putting it back toge-"

Kaiba gave him a sharp look and he stuck his tongue out, confusing Atem. But before the Pharaoh could say a word there was a sudden rushing noise behind them.

Suddenly a young Egyptian man with dark hair and a blue sash burst into the temple. His eyes zeroed in on Atem - hair, eyes, Puzzle. He stopped stock-still, his jaw dropped and blinking hard like he couldn't trust his eyes.

A second later Isono appeared, saying, "I apologise, sir - he slipped past me -" Then he too stopped short. He saw the man seeing Atem and went a shade paler.

For a long moment no one said a word. Atem made no move to hide himself. He watched the youth with curiosity.

"Is it really you?" the Egyptian man said, breathless.

It was then that Seto was able to place him.

He was one of Aigami's friends. Seto even had the feeling he'd been on the dig site before, working the peripheries.

And now he knew the Pharaoh was back.

"Well, shit," Kaiba said.


	11. Chapter 7

A/N: The cat's out of the bag! Mani knows Atem has returned. But Kaiba's more annoyed about where Atem's past is leading them...

Getting close to the chapters I most want to write! As always, please read and review!

For a second no one dared move. Then another of Kaiba's staff burst into the underground temple and unlike Isono, he tried to grab hold of Mani's arm to drag him away.

"Unhand him this instant!" Atem's voice cracked with authority; the guard released him instinctively. "Leave us!" he commanded, whipping one arm to point back towards the door. His countenance was thunderous, his red eyes flashing with an anger far larger than his small build. All of them - both bodyguards and Mani - shrank back. But the guards held back, their eyes going to Kaiba. Seto had to admire how ingrained their training was, especially in the face of Atem's righteous anger. Kaiba nodded and they hurried back up the stairs. Before he disappeared up the stairs, Isono looked back and tapped his collar.

It was a gesture they had set up to mean that Isono wanted him to hit an emergency signal the second he thought he was in danger. Kaiba waved him off. Aigami was one thing, but he doubted Mani was dangerous. Isono hesitated a second longer and then he went, leaving them alone again.

Atem took a moment to compose himself. Then he put the Puzzle back around his neck and approached Mani, hand outstretched. "I apologise for that. Are you all-"

Mani flinched back and dropped to a knee. "Your Majesty."

Atem looked at him, a long look with unreadable eyes. Then he knelt to Mani's level, offering his hand again. "I understand Egypt has had no monarchy in many, many years. You need not kneel to me."

Mani looked up, but would not look Atem in the eye as he spoke. He looked at the outstretched hand like he couldn't quite believe it was there. "The Tombkeepers-"

"Their duty is long since over, and they should not have had to endure what they did," he said, moving his hand closer to Mani. "Will you not rise?"

Mani glanced quickly at Atem and then took his hand, letting himself be helped up. The younger teen looked deeply unnerved by the whole situation, pulling his hand from Atem's as soon as he could. "Pardon the intrusion, I just - I thought I was seeing things -" He looked at Kaiba. "Is your priest responsible for this too?"

"This is Seto Kaiba," Atem said quickly, before Kaiba could get a word out. "Surely you recognise him?"

Mani nodded slowly, his eyes going from Atem to Kaiba and back like he didn't quite believe what he was seeing. The stalemate went on for another second before Mokuba poked his head out from behind Kaiba's arm and said, "Why don't we find somewhere quiet to talk?"

Mani nodded again, still staring. Great, Kaiba thought to himself. They'd broken him.

Because of the situation with Atem, they didn't stray anywhere near a town or village. In the end they holed up under one of the outdoor tents the men had put up for shade. With the workers now formally dismissed, the plains ahead were quiet. They had given Mani some coffee and something to eat for the shock at Atem's insistence, but Mani had barely touched either. Instead he squeezed the cup with his thumbs, making it bend with the pressure.

"So let me see if I have this right," he said finally, still not looking Atem in the eye, "Kaiba crossed into the Afterlife with technology and you crossed back using magic."

"Yes. Essentially."

"And now both magic and technology is sustaining you?"

"Yes."

"But..." Mani fidgeted and met Atem's steady gaze for the briefest of seconds. "Is that safe? If you were to be hurt in this world, what would become of Aaru? Pardon my forwarsness, Pharaoh, but Master Shin said you would be its guardian once you passed on... uh, again."

Kaiba looked at Atem pointedly. He'd surmised as much but hearing it confirmed aloud nettled him for some reason. Atem didn't feel or take note of his intense scrutiny though. "You may call me Atem," he said, "And your concern is well placed. But you need not worry. I will return soon, once I ensure everything is as it should be."

Just then Isono approached. "Pardon the interruption, but I understand you want to rebury all the Items. We still need..."

Atem stood and removed the Puzzle, passing it to Isono to set in the padded briefcase. Before Isono could set it down Atem said, "Break it."

"What?"

"Leave nothing to chance. Break it." At the bodyguard's continued hesitation Atem simply reached over and plucked the Item from his hands. He kept his grip with one hand and moved to remove the centre piece with the other, pushing it forward slowly...until there was a click of something coming loose.

Kaiba felt an odd feeling, like a chill of ice cold water down his spine. A feeling of familiarity struck him and his breathing was suddenly coming shorter, harsher. The first piece slid outward and all noise, all his surroundings, faded away into a faint background fuzz. His stomach twisted, his entire being bent around the Puzzle.

Without stopping to think, he reached out and grabbed Atem's wrist. The Pharaoh looked up, surprised and the strange spell was suddenly broken. Kaiba blinked. He was standing. He hadn't intended to.

"Big brother?" Mokuba asked, perturbed.

"Seto?" Atem said. His first name sounded strange from his rival. The whole thing was strange. Seto let go, clearing his throat awkwardly.

"I was just..." But he didn't know what he was doing. He sat again.

"Didn't forget I can manage without the Puzzle, did you, Kaiba?" Atem admonished.

"Shut up." Kaiba folded his arms across his chest. "Of course not." It was supposed to be their usual back and forth but something felt off. Like even talking to Atem like that didn't fit anymore... The others were still staring at him. "Are you getting on with it?" he snapped.

Atem eyed him a second longer before turning hid attention back to the Puzzle. He slid the centrepiece all the way out and then the rest just collapsed into his hands. He noticed the others watching, all of them suddenly wistful at the sight of the golden Item now in tiny little bits. He shrugged. "After a while you get to learn where it's giving point is." And then he tenderly laid the pieces in the case with the other Items. Isono shut it and clicked the lock closed, activating secondary technological locks elsewhere on the case. Kaiba Corp engineering, of course. Kaiba had never considered its use as a time capsule.

"Once buried, you wish to collapse the temple entirely, do you not, Master Atem?" Isono asked. "Do you have any objections, Master Kaiba?"

Atem looked at Kaiba, all eager eyed. Kaiba scoffed. "Do as you want."

"But there is something I must do first," he said, serious again.

"What?"

He looked at Mani. "I need to talk to Shadi."

There was another long pause before Mani said, "Pharaoh, you do remember that Master Shin is dead, don't you?"

"Yes. But I believe his spirit lingers still. He will have the information I need. If I am successful, I imagine you would like to speak with him?"

"Yes. Very much."

"And what of Diva and Sera?"

"I...am unsure what Diva might do if he were to see you here. For now I think it best not to speak to him about this."

"Very well." He turned to Isono. "This should only take a moment."

And he headed back down into the burial sire without another word to anyone. Kaiba ground his teeth. Typical Pharaoh. Once he got a stupid idea in his head he forgot everyone and everything else. And after he'd been the one to fly them all out here, too.

He hurried after Atem, not sure what to say but determined to give him a talking to. "You certainly stuck your neck out for that Egyptian."

"He's my countryman. Why wouldn't I?"

Kaiba grumbled to himself.

"Kaiba, are you sure you're all right?" Laughing. Atem was laughing at him.

"About as all right as someone trying to get an audience with a dead man," he snapped. Atem raised an eyebrow and Kaiba suddenly realised what he'd said. "Shut up."

Atem bloody chuckled at him again. "I meant what I said. This part shouldn't take long."

They came out into the temple again, Mani and Mokuba filing in behind them. Mokuba was talking to Mani about something, seemingly putting him at ease.  
Atem approached the door with the eye of Wadjet inscribed onto it, looked down at the cracked remains of a stone Kaiba and the team had dug up. He knelt and ran his hand along the broken edges, the recesses where it looked as though the Items were once placed. Then he stood again and assumed a look of intense concentration.

A golden light began to surround him and there was a series of frantic beeps from the generator he wore on his arm. Kaiba moved forwards but Atem held up his hand, warning him not to approach. "Spirit who resides here," he said, a strange echo under his voice, "I request your presence."

The light grew more intense until Kaiba had to shield his eyes, then it faded again. And the form of another man was appearing in light - someone kneeling, in a long white robe. The light around Atem faded and he staggered a little, a hand pressed to his chest to recover himself. Kaiba approached, gesturing impatiently to Atem's arm. Atem rubbed his temples, looking annoyed, but he shrugged off one shoulder enough of his coat to briefly unveil the generator. "See?" he whispered. "It's fine."

Kaiba gave him a hard look. The idiot had never had a self preservation instinct, so why bother getting irate about it now? But somehow he couldn't stop himself glaring at his rival. "It's fine," Atem repeated, more quietly. "I had it under control."

The Pharaoh turned his attention to the ghostly figure and Seto pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Normally he could switch his irritation off like a light bulb or shove it down to the bottom of his thoughts for later, but he found himself struggling. Mokuba tugged at his arm, trying to pull him back. Seto hadn't even sensed him there.

"Master Shin!" Mani cried, eyes wide. He rushed to approach and Atem silently moved aside. "Is it really you?"

Shadi opened pale, lightless eyes and gazed at him. "Little one," he said, smiling. "Truly, you have grown up since I saw you last."

Mani laughed, his voice full with suppressed tears. "What happened to you... I am so sorry I did not prevent it-"

"Nonsense," Shadi said, firm but kind. "There is nothing you could have done. I am proud of you - all of you."

"Even Diva?" Mokuba muttered. Shadi looked up.

"Yes. Even Diva."

"Then perhaps you could explain something for me," Atem said. Shadi bowed his head again, remaining on his knees. "You told Marik it was I who killed his father, rather than the hatred fostered by the Millennium Rod. You gave the Plana a specific set of powers, powers they were to lose should I return."

Mani looked nervously from the Pharaoh to Shadi, moving between them.

"All you say is true," Shadi said.

"Why?" Atem asked. Shadi didn't answer. "Let me rephrase: who put you up to it?"

Shadi paused. He looked up then, empty blue eyes meeting defiant red ones. "She who controls your destiny. She whom you serve now."

"Horakhty?"

Shadi nodded. Atem didn't look particularly surprised, though Kaiba couldn't tell what exactly he was thinking about.

"Sorry, what the hell are you two talking about?"

Shadi looked over at him, eyes widening momentarily before bowing his head again. "Priest Seth. I was expecting to see you."

"Knock it off. Answer the question."

Shadi smiled. Unlike earlier his expression now was unsettling. Insincere. "I refer to the goddess Horakhty, who controls this realm and Aaru. Both the Pharaoh and myself are in her service."

"Really?" he turned to Atem. "You're the lackey of some woman?"

"Goddess," Mani corrected quietly.

"Whatever! Are you, Atem?"

Atem met his gaze steadily. "Yes. Yes, I am."

Kaiba folded his arms. "For how long?"

Mokuba tried to chime in, "Seto, does it matter?" but Atem said shortly, "Yes."

Seto suddenly recalled something. "That's why they were calling you Horakhtian? Because you serve someone?"

"Yes," Atem said again, staring Kaiba down challengingly. Seto knew that look. Atem was game for a fight and Seto had half a mind to give him one.

"If I may interject," Mani said, "Why did you want to speak to Master Shin, Pharaoh?"

Atem didn't look away from Seto though. His eyes burned with a fire Seto hadn't seen since he first walked into his throne room days ago. Come on, Seto thought, his glare becoming a smirk. Challenge me. Teach me a lesson. I've waited long enough.

But instead Atem said, "I need to know what happened to the people of Kul Elna."


	12. Interlude 5

Interlude 5

Seth looked at he wounded Pharaoh. The priest had a strong constitution, but the sight of all the blood... the smell of it... he felt bile rising in his throat and struggled to keep it down. The Pharaoh was swaying slightly where they stood. He pressed his hand against a wound on his arm, trying to stop up the trickle of blood. His eyes were dark, devoid of spark. Seth felt it instinctually: the king was dying. But he just couldn't believe it. He shook his head, backing away like he could delay the inevitable.

"Do not send me away," Seth said. "Whatever must be done, my duty is to you, to the end."

But Seth's words just made the Pharaoh withdraw, a mournful look coming over his features. He looked down, shoulders dropping. And he spoke such a quiet, unbelievable word that Seth couldn't believe it at first.

"Please," he said. His head was still down, his fists clenched by his side. The cape that made the King's silhouette bigger was ragged and hanging limply about his body. "That I failed you as your king is hard enough to bear."

"Pharaoh-"

"I beg you," he said, his body shaking. "Stay here. Live, and rebuild Egypt."

"Atem-"

The Pharaoh turned quickly away, his face hidden out of sight. "This is an order," he said, his voice quavering. "Don't come looking for me until the chaos dies down." And he tried to hurry off up the last stairs to the palace, leaving Seth standing there behind him, but couldn't manage much more than a stagger.

Seth grit his teeth. "You can try to leave me behind," he said, following Atem's retreating back up the stairs, "But I'll find you, and I'll stop you getting into trouble. Forever. That's one thing that you can rely -"

Suddenly Seth was knocked back, a surge of powers knocking him off his feet and leaving him blindsided in the dirt. Golden power rippled around Atem, his face full of regret before he looked away.

"This is an order," he said, forcing himself to straighten up. "Don't-"

Seth sprang to his feet, yelling, "Don't you dare tell me-"

Atem's hand snapped out, the full force of his power hitting Seth's mind like a sledgehammer. Seth collapsed to his knees, gasping from the shock of it. The Pharaoh had caught him off guard and somewhere distant of the pain Seth could feel how focused this attack was, designed to knock him down in one clean blow. Seth fumbled for the Rod, a counter assault his only hope of victory.

Then the pressure in his head increased and he was thrown back into the sand. He was left cold, his body twitching and hands grabbing at the sand in a desperate attempt to anchor himself.

Then Atem's voice reached him through the pain, the resignation in it cutting through the last of Seth's denial: "I'm sorry..."

Seto gasped, bolting upright in bed. For a second he didn't know where he was, and the unfamiliar room made him think he was still there, in the ruins of the palace gardens, with the Pharaoh. Then small details started to come back: Atem talking about some place called Kul Elna. The Millennium Items apparently being Soylent Green.

The group going to a small facility Kaiba Corp had set up for the night. That was where he was. Not three thousand years in the past. Seto groaned, finding the edge of the bed sheet to wipe the sweat off his face. He slid out of bed, trying to shake off the cold sweat he'd broken out in. He'd had weird dreams before since Yugi and the others had invaded his life, but never anything that specific.

He could hear voices outside. Seto cracked the door open an inch, spotted Mani and Atem talking in the corridor. They didn't notice him so Seto stood there for a moment, having to reassure himself again that Atem was fine. He was fine.

But Seto couldn't get those eyes from his dream out of his head. He'd seen eyes like that before, once. Gozaburo had tried to take him hunting when he was younger. They'd downed an animal, maybe a deer. But what he remembered were the eyes that looked at him: the animal knew it was about to die.

It knew there was nowhere to run. Gozaburo had laughed at him when Seto had been violently ill afterwards.

"So when the spirits are free, what then?" Mani was saying.

"Eventually I'll return," Atem said calmly. "That's why I'd appreciate it if you kept my existence a secret..."

Seto watched him a moment longer. The fire when Seto had been provoking him earlier was gone. He shut the door quietly, closing himself in the dark.


	13. Chapter 8

A/N: Almost up to the chapters I really wanted to write! As always, would really appreciate reviews! (And thank you to everyone who has on previous chapters!)

**Chapter Eight**

Kaiba didn't sleep particularly well for the rest of the night. The dream kept plaguing him, but other than that first clear image, all he could remember the morning after was flashes. The smell of blood heavy in the air. The feeling of struggling through sand, of not being able to move fast enough. Wreckage and ruins of a great building in his way. Digging his fingers into dust. His hand closing around something metal and cold. The flash of red, regretful eyes turned on him.

He wasn't much in the mood for breakfast, so he was thankful to see Atem was too preoccupied with talking to Mokuba to notice Seto half-heartedly pushing his toast around his plate. It was hard to tell if Mokuba had forgiven the Pharaoh already, but he was certainly enthusiastic enough about the questions he was asking.

"So it was just Bakura who had trapped you in a board game based on your previous life?"

"Yes. Or rather, the Spirit of the Ring."

"Woow... and then you fought something called Zorc?"

"Yes. As I had the first time."

"And you beat him? How?"

"We beat him. Yugi and the others found my name and helped me."

"Huh." Mokuba leant back in his chair. "So how did you beat him the first time?"

Atem looked uncomfortable. "I..."

Seto saw the penny drop because Mokuba suddenly had that same look he got when he said something naive in a business meeting. "Oh. Sorry! I didn't realise..."

"No, it- it's fine."

Kaiba dumped his toast on the plate. "So how did it happen?" he asked.

"Excuse me?"

"When you died." He leant forward, resting clenched hands on the table. "How did it happen?"

Atem didn't answer, now deeply discomfited. Mokuba gave him a look. "Seto," he said, his tone a reprimand. Seto pushed back from the table.

"I need to get ready. We're going to some out of the way village, right? And then we can get out of here." He didn't wait for either of them to answer before he stalked off. He knew he'd just made things unpleasant, but he didn't care. He was Seto Kaiba, after all. They should be used to his bad attitude in the face of all this nonsense. None of it had anything to do with him. Especially not when all of it - all of it - belonged in the past.

Mokuba and Atem were both quiet on the jeep ride to Kul Elna. Worse still, they kept giving one another furtive looks, which annoyed Kaiba further. He caught Mokuba doing it and raised an eyebrow in a deliberate, What? sort of look. Mokuba cleared his throat and looked away.

"Do you miss it?" he asked the Pharaoh. "Wearing the Puzzle, I mean. Knowing where it came from like you do now."

Atem hesitated, running his fingers over the briefcase with the Items. "I would be lying if I said I didn't have an attachment to it," he said. "It was entrusted to me by my father. It was the connection between myself and... Yugi... for a long time."

"But?"

"I can't overlook what it is," he said. "And I know that the Item is different from what it represented to me. The Item itself contains dangerous energies. And I know well enough from the three thousand years I spent trapped inside it - the Item has no regard for me. Part of its energies are part of me now, and those energies are corrupting when not contained."

Mokuba nodded, slowly. "I...see."

Atem coughed. "I suppose 'maybe' was the more appropriate answer."

The other occupant of the journey, Mani, was quiet too. He spent most of his time watching the Pharaoh with an uneasy look on his face. Kaiba wondered if he felt guilty for what Diva had done. It was lucky they hadn't run into Diva or his little sister instead; Kaiba knew they were in Egypt since they'd flown out from Domino. And given how hard Diva had fought to stop the Pharaoh returning, Kaiba could only assume all their weird teleporting powers were gone.

Like he had read Kaiba's thoughts, Atem suddenly looked straight at Mani. "I need to ask you something."

"Of course," Mani said, taken off guard.

"To do with the Plana."

"Of course," he said again. "Though Master Shin may have been the better choice."

"Right..." Atem looked sheepish. "I may have forgotten yesterday..."

"How could you forget?" Kaiba grumbled. Atem turned and fixed him with a look.

"Who was the one distracting me?" Atem shot back.

"Well, you shouldn't have-"

They were interrupted by Mani's laughter. He leant forward and as Atem and Kaiba shared indignant looks, stage whispered to Mokuba, "Are they always like this?"

Mokuba grinned. "All the time. Imagine what it's like being in the same house."

Atem cleared his throat. "Anyway! You were answering my questions."

"Oh, yes. My apologies."

Kaiba settled back into his seat, irate, as Atem paused like he didn't know where to begin. "Why did Shadi give you the power of the Plana? Was it truly so you could make a better world?"

Mani looked down. "...No," he said. "When I consider everything, I don't think so. Sera said it herself: if only a single drop of darkness were to contaminate the power of the Plana the world would fall to it."

"The being that I faced - that was a Plana user with the Millennium Ring, correct?"

Mani nodded. "Going from that, I don't see why Master Shin would think we could truly make a better world with that power. The risk outweighs the reward."

"Then why give it to you?"

"Well..." Mani looked uncomfortable again, his eyes going from Atem to Seto for only a fraction of a second. But it was enough; Seto and Atem both spotted it.

"Go on," Kaiba said, folding his arms. "Out with it."

"Kaiba," Atem chastened in that familiar tone. "It's all right," he said. "You can tell us."

"It's only a theory, but... Master Shin must have known that when he created the eighth Millennium Item, its power would be superceded by yours, Pharaoh. He may even have added that clause himself." He cleared his throat, looking between the two again. "And he specified we would lose our powers when you returned and that they would activate after you left."

Kaiba was starting to suspect what he was driving at. He crossed his legs. "Get to the point, can you?"

"Kaiba..."

"No, it's fine." Mani straightened in his seat, looking them both in the eye. "I can only conclude that Master Shin either wanted to prevent your return, or intended to use it to rebalance the world in the event the power of the Plana became corrupted. Either way, Master Shin must have been certain that something or someone -" He looked hard at Kaiba, " - would conspire to ensure your return, no matter what the cost was."

Everyone was silent. It was hard to deny the logic of what Mani had just said. But the more Kaiba thought on it...

"Shadi anticipated everything. He used Marik... Pegasus... so many people that I knew... just to benefit me. And now we have reason to believe he set the Plana up as a weapon to stop Kaiba..."

"Don't talk like that," Kaiba snapped. "I'm not some cog in some ghost's machine. That's ridiculous. I chose to track you down, the Plana chose to get in my way. That's all there is to it." But when Atem looked at him, Kaiba could see he was talking to a wall. He had that look he got whenever he wanted to feel unnecessarily bad about something. "Besides, what makes you so special? He used you the same as the rest of us."

That got his attention. Atem sat back in his seat, confused. "What...?"

"You heard me. Something's hardly for 'your benefit' if Shadi was just setting you up to kill some ancient evil or other."

Atem looked completely at sea. "Kaiba, I don't understand what you're-"

"We're here!" Mokuba said, just as the jeep rumbled to a stop. Atem went to say something more but Kaiba clambered out before he could get a word in edgeways. On top of everything else, Egypt was far too hot all of the time and he had never liked the idea of dressing down. He'd just have to suffer through this, too.

He felt Atem standing behind him without having to look. "Kaiba-"

Kaiba span to face him, examining the derelict buildings surrounding them. They all looked the same to him, just relics of the past. "So which one?" he said. Atem glowered at him, then brushed past without a word. But there was no force in the gesture. As he watched Atem disappear down yet another set of stairs into yet another old crypt, he watched the unmistakeable droop in the monarch's shoulders. So Atem was tired of him, was he? When they hadn't even dueled yet? What the hell was his problem?

"Seto," Mokuba said softly, appearing at his side, "Breathe, OK?"

Seto realised he'd been clenching his fists and struggling to catch his breath. He met Mokuba's eyes, saw the worry in them. He tried to nod and smile reassuringly like he used to, but it felt like there was a vice around his chest. Why was he feeling like this? This stupid trip was just a stepping stone to getting what he needed, and then everything would finally be fine.

He followed Atem down the stairs first, Mokuba and then Mani close behind.

"I wonder why they didn't do this before he left," Mokuba said, filling the silence. "This Kul Elna thing, I mean."

"I imagine it may have been token dangerous to attempt in his host's body," Mani said, as casually as he was discussing the weather. But it stopped Seto dead, Mokuba slamming into his back and Mani just barely avoiding joining the collision. Kaiba looked around at him, all the bad feeling flooding back. Then he raced down the rest of the stairs. "Is it something I said?" Mani called and Mokuba muttered, "Shit..."

Seto burst into the small shrine in time to see Atem kneeling by a stone dais, setting down the briefcase. "Stop," he snapped.

Atem stood. "Excuse me?"

"This - spell you're planning to do, have you thought how it might affect the generator? Have you put any safeties in place at all?"

"Kaiba, what's gotten into you?"

"Have you?" he demanded.

He folded his arms. "I can handle it. And since when have you been afraid of a little risk?"

"Afraid?" He scoffed. "I'm not afraid. I'm making sure my tech doesn't get damaged."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really. Risk is fine when you're doing something that matters!"

Atem's eyes went wide. Just then, Mokuba and Mani arrived in the temple and looked at one another hopelessly.

"You know, Kaiba," Atem said coolly, "Why don't you take Mokuba and wait outside? There's no point you being here if all you care about is your tech."

"I'm not going anywhere. Who's going to bail you out when you get in trouble like you always do?"

Atem's fists clenched and Seto could see he'd struck a nerve. But before he could retort Mokuba was at his side. "Hey, guys. Why don't we just get this over with so we can go home? OK?"

Atem glared at Seto a second longer before turning his back. The urge to snap at him, wound him as deeply as possible, overcame Kaiba. But he bit his tongue, holding himself back from shaking Mokuba off. He didn't like that look on his little brother's face.

Mani approached the Pharaoh. "If there's anything I can do to help with the spell..."

"No," Atem said, so softly Kaiba barely heard him, "I have to do this alone."

They all watched as Atem knelt before the stairs, adjusting so he sat on his heels with his head back and his back straight. Kaiba moved a little so he could see Atem's face. His eyes were closed and he assumed a look of deep concentration.

There was a long pause where it looked as though nothing was going to happen. Then a light began to surround Atem - subtle at first, then it was as if a golden glow was lighting the temple from within. Seto turned to tell Mokuba to leave but Mokuba shook his head and stood his ground. Seto pulled Mokuba behind him for good measure.

Atem's eyes open. The fiery red was gone, the colour replaced with inhuman gold. He turned his head towards Seto and Seto involuntarily shivered as the eyes burnt straight through him.

"Spirits that reside in this forsaken place," he said, a strange echo under his voice. "I ask you to reveal yourselves to me." The light dimmed amd Atem raised his hand, capturing it in his palm. "I am the one who bears responsibility for your fate. The son of the Pharaoh Akhenamkhanen, Atem."

The stone wall at the back of the room cracked and Atem turned his eyes to face it, his face frighteningly impassive as black wisps began to swirl around him. Seto was all too uncomfortably reminded of Battle City and the savage games Marik had played with them. He pressed Mokuba to him just as a wisp bore down on them both and tried to push his brother back when the wisp was suddenly repelled by a golden light, like a forcefield keeping it in.

Atem reached out to them, letting them circle around his arm. "I wish to free you," he said. "As spirits you can reach Aaru more easily, you just need a bridge. Can you trust in me?"

"You...are too late..." The disembodied voice echoed around the temple floor as the wisps concentrated into a black mass around Atem. "Your family...destroyed us... all of us...but one."

"I know. But if I can make things better -"

"There is. No. BETTER!" The voice of the spirits raised to a shriek and everyone except Atem instinctively covered their ears. "There is NO REST! THERE IS NOTHING!"

Atem grabbed at he briefcase with the Items and snapped the case open. The wisps recoiled. "I have them here, all of them! I can send them all to Aaru with my power!"

But the spirits were past listening. The wisps reformed into a dark thunder cloud, a deafening screech echoing around the chamber. They reared up, taking the form of a strange creature with a snake's tail and a monster's head and body, like a duel monster made out of black smoke. Atem paled but made no move to get out of the way.

He merely stood, grabbing the briefcase as he did so and tipping the Items out onto the temple floor. The light shone again, a second much tighter golden circle around Atem, the creature and the Items. He held one hand out towards the Items, all of them glowing gold from the inside.

And with the other, he reached out for the creature.

"ATEM!" Kaiba yelled over the din. Atem didn't even look back as the black fate bore down on him. "MOVE! RUN!"

But the Pharaoh didn't run. He stood his ground, looking with empty gold eyes at the claws bearing down on him. He shouldn't die looking like that. Seto couldn't allow it, not again –

Seto was in reach and the black claws wrapped around Atem's arm like a vice at the same moment Seto breached the golden circle and grabbed Atem's wrist.

Everything happened in one instant - Atem turned to face him, the gold in his eyes changing back to red and then to a look of sheer horror and a blazing hot fire burning up Seto's arm from the point of contact until it reached his skull and then –

Seto was pushed out of time, the temple falling away and replaced with the ruins of another building, another life. And Atem was caught in another shroud, blood staining his crown, his skin ghastly pale and his eyes sunken.

"Stop-" Seth cried, shutting his eyes and refusing to let go. "Atem, don't -"

A tidal force knocked him off balance and Seto was slammed back against the floor. Voices called to him, the sound odd, foreign even. And he could hear Atem - Seto knew it was Egyptian he was speaking but he understood it. He understood the incantation, a desperate plea for peace to be restored, and an apology.

Finally the noise died down and all was quiet. Seto felt himself being lifted from the floor, but his head was spinning. Someone was talking to him, but at first the words didn't make any sense. Then, mercifully, he understood.

"Big brother! Are you all right?" Mokuba was saying. Mani was at his other side, looking totally lost.

Kaiba managed to open his eyes, the temple fading back into view. The wisps were gone. Atem stood there, no longer Pharaonic but in modern clothes like before. But he was shaken, staring at Kaiba with wide eyes.

Seto knew it then. He'd seen another life, the priest's life. His dreams had come back to haunt him while he was awake. And going by the look on Atem's face, they both knew it.


	14. Chapter 9

Please read and review! Getting close to the end of this fic so all reviews welcome!

Chapter 9

Atem was annoyingly pushy on the ride back. "Are you certain you're all right?"

"Yes," Seto lied, resisting the urge to rub his temples. "But you're giving me a headache. A little quiet would be nice."

Atem looked nonplussed but before he could bother Kaiba more, Mani mercifully distracted him.

"Is that everything, Pharaoh? I mean, did you succeed in sending the spirits?"

Atem looked down. "I think so; I can't feel anything on this plane anymore. The only trace of shadow magic left here is coming from - well, me."

Mokuba had also been watching Seto like a hawk since they set off, but at this he looked away. "Really?"

"Yes. I feel it's so."

Mokuba sat up in his seat, looking Atem straight on. "So after you and Seto duel, your mission is done for real, right? You can go home." Atem's eyes flickered to Kaiba. He said nothing.

But Kaiba didn't have the energy to care. He leant his head completely against the jeep window, the cold of the glass doing nothing to ease his pounding headache. Forget all of this. He didn't want to be awake anymore.

The rest of the ride was thankfully quiet but it was still far too long for Seto's liking. The minute the jeep came to a stop he popped the door open and hopped down, heading straight inside with barely a word to anyone. There were familiar footsteps behind him - Atem struggling to keep up.

"Leave me alone, Pharaoh," he ground out, not looking around.

"You need help. Let me help you."

"I need sleep," he snapped. "Leave me alone before you do any more damage!"

Thank God. He had reached his room. He yanked the door open, looking back despite himself. The challenging look, the annoyed expression he was expecting to see... they weren't there. Atem's eyes were downcast, devoid of their usual fire. He turned and walked off, pushing past Mokuba who had also followed them. And Mokuba read the situation instantly.

"Seto...?" he said, his voice tiny.

"Tomorrow," he said, almost pleading, "I promise you and I can go home tomorrow."

"Do you need an aspirin?" Mokuba said, but Seto waved him off and retreated inside. His head felt like it was bursting and he yanked the curtains shut, diving under the covers so he could bury himself in the dark. There was little relief for the pain, but Seto laid his head down and willed himself to sleep.

He shut his eyes. And when he opened them again, there was fire in the sky above. He raised a hand to his head, ashes on his tanned skin.

"Oh, God, no," he whispered.

Smoke filled the night sky, thick enough that Seth struggled to breathe for it. The ground beneath him shook with quakes. And up above, the rumble of thunder.

Atem walked past him, his garb ancient Egyptian, royal. Lightning struck, making Seth flinch and he saw in that instant that it was more than Atem's clothes that were different. The deep purple cape he wore was rent with tears and slash marks, the white linen tunic muddied and most noticeably of all, blood ran down the exquisite gold jewellery, staining it. "There is little time," he said, voice hoarse. "With the civilians evacuated, I can use the palace for the final battle against Zorc."

Seth followed him to a broken down wall and watched Atem struggle to clamber through, an unmistakeable shake in his limbs as he tried to lift himself up. He tried to reach out, to yank Atem back, but Atem finally succeeded, getting out of his reach by mere moments. The ground shook again and Atem clung onto the rubble for support. Seth stared at the bloodied eye in Atem's crown, transfixed like he'd never seen it before.

Atem straightened up, a hand pressed to his chest. He struggled to draw breath as he spoke. "There is so little time..."

Seth finally found his voice. "Pharaoh, you cannot go any further. The country needs you to - to live."

Atem sighed. He turned to go and Seth spotted where the blood on the crown was coming from. A bloody wound on the side of his head. Seth had seen wounds before but something about how visceral it looked turned his stomach.

The king was a wounded, dying animal. A sense of familiarity came over him: he had thought it before, had he noticed it before? Either way he had done nothing, and now it was too late. The Pharaoh walked on wearily, like a heavy weight bore down on him. He led the way up a dark path without looking back.

"I need you to go back," Atem said, voice so quiet it was almost inaudible. "You have to go back..."

Seth frowned deeply. The sense of deja vu mounted; it felt more like he was living a memory than the present, awful moment. He couldn't let this happen, not again. He grabbed Atem's arm tightly and yanked, pulling him around so hard the Pharaoh's weakened legs barely kept him upright.

Atem tried to push him away, smearing dirt and blood across Seth's front. Blood droplets fell dark between them, disappearing into the night. Seth grabbed him by the shoulders, steadying him but Atem resisted, doing anything he could to avoid looking at Seth. The priest shook him, infuriated, until finally red eyes met blue.

Blood had dried on one side of the Pharaoh's face. The crown was cracked. But the worst was the look on the Pharaoh's face. The spark was gone. He was no longer fighting every last second but welcoming his fate.

"You have to go back," Atem said, barely louder than a whisper. "I would prefer that you do not see...what comes next."

And Atem shook him off. He was shaking, no longer able to control the tremors. Even injured the Pharaoh had always carried himself with dignity. Now even that was draining away. And the blood - now Seth was standing closer, the smell of the blood...

Seth backed away, fighting down the urge to be sick as he said, "No, no. This is wrong. You cannot do this."

Atem didn't seem to hear him. He turned his head away. "Please," he said and Seth had never heard his voice take that tone before. "That I failed you as your king is-" Atem looked away, choking on the words. "-is hard enough to bear."

"Pharaoh-"

"I beg you," Atem said, voice cracking. "Stay here. Live and rebuild Egypt."

Seth tried to find the right thing to say or do but he felt paralysed, like he was just speaking lines in a play. "Atem-"

The Pharaoh wouldn't look back, his fist clenched and trembling. "This is an order." His spine straightened, head lifting to look into the distance. To look away. "Do not come after me until the chaos has died down." And he started to walk slowly up the stairs towards the palace, away from Seth.

The sight of his retreating back snapped Seth from his stupor and he hurried in front of him, blocking the King's path. The words came more easily now. "Don't you know," he said, "That our road of battle lies further than the eye can see?"

He saw a glint of gold bloom in Atem's iris and darted forward, his hand closing around the rope of the Puzzle, the Pharaoh's power growing to a golden light that same instant. Atem was surprised, trying to pull back from Seth's grip and when he couldn't the Pharaoh assaulted Seth's mind with a sledgehammer blow.

Seth gritted his teeth and hung on, hearing himself saying over and over, "Not this time, not this time!" He could go for the Rod but that would cost him precious seconds, all he had to do was get the Puzzle and things would change, everything would change-

A sharp jolt shocked through his arm and his blasted fingers reflexively let go and in the next instant the pain in his head had him doubled over in the sand. His hand went to his arm, meeting wet blood. The Pharaoh had slashed his arm and he'd goddamn let go. Stupid. So stupid.

Seth slammed his fist against the ground, screamed, "Don't you dare - don't you dare-" His vision blurred but he managed to look through the pain, up at Atem, making out the vivid red eyes and the tears in them. "Pharaoh..."

"I -" Atem's voice wavered and he shook his head, turning away one last time. "I'm- sorry-"

And he hurried away from Seth as fast as he could manage. Seth tried to push himself up, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood to be able to move through the pain.

The pressure in his head was excruciating... the Pharaoh wasn't able to move that fast but he was still getting out of reach, getting away... Seth slammed his fist against the ground and forced his arms to support him. A wave of pain overcame him and Seth fought down the strong urge to be sick. The pain eased, but only a little - Atem surely couldn't have the strength to keep the spell going, not in his condition. Seth grabbed at the Millennium Rod, calling on its strength and despite a moment of resistance that made his vision patch with black spots, he managed to push the spell back and back until he could breathe again.

Seth staggered to his feet, wobbling from the aftermath of the onslaught and his own fatigue. He took a painful step forward, then another. He tried to run, fell, pushed back up again. And he rushed after the Pharaoh. The king had already vanished up the path, but that was fine. There was only one place he could be going - the back of the palace, where Zorc loomed above.

Seth pushed himself to a stride, then he was running - every step sending shooting pains through his body but Seth detached his mind from the pain, using it to focus solely on the present moment. He had lost everything else. He would not lose this.

Through the garden and up to the wreckage, the palace walls - Seth had no plan, no clue how to defeat Zorc, but he didn't care, all he had to do was keep Atem alive for the next moment and he one after and they'd come up with a plan-

He rounded the corner and came face to face with Atem. He stood in a circle of dust suspended in the air, his eyes widening with horror when he saw Seth. Up above, Zorc roared and shook the earth - and his arm reared back and he swung down, claws aimed at Atem.

Atem didn't see. He was still looking at Seth, shaking his head. "No-"

He had the Puzzle in his hands and the eye was shimmering gold and suddenly bright lights burst from it, spreading like golden wings and driving back Zorc. Seth's cheer was lost against Atem's strained gasp and sunken red eyes held Seth's gaze before suddenly the light turned grey, turned to shadow and impaled the Pharaoh through the back and straight through the heart.

He gasped sharply and Seth lunged forward, trying to catch hold of him, but the circle surrounding Atem turned him away, kept his hand from getting through. "No!" he yelled. "Pharaoh!"

The shadows grew darker, more piercing through Atem's body. Atem gasped, letting go of the Puzzle but it remained suspended in the air, the shadows running through Atem heading towards it. There was another ground shaking roar and Seth saw that the shadows had stabbed Zorc and were drawing from him too.

"What have you done?" Seth yelled at the Pharaoh. He grabbed the Millennium Rod but the force of the shadows was so great it was like being in a heavy wind and he was barely able to lift it. "Pharaoh! Pharaoh, stop this!"

Atem was gasping and choking and the shadows running through him were doing something to his body, black lines spreading through his skin, turning as they moved like they were carving him up.

"Stop..." Atem said, looking away, then his voice faded. A second later a shadow pierced through his throat. His hands dropped but the shadows caught his wrists, yanking them up and pulling him towards the Puzzle. Atem would have crumpled if the shadows hadn't stabbed through his waist, his legs, keeping him in place. There was a cluster forming around his chest and Atem turned big, terrified eyes on Seth. He looked around, confused and bewildered as Seth realised with horror that the shadows were attacking his mind. Atem tried to speak but nothing came out.

Desperately Seth tried to push through the barrier again, to grab his hand and he saw Atem try to get free, to reach back. Then the darkness yanked something from him and Atem's eyes turned blank. His arms fell to his sides and he stared ahead, sightless. The Puzzle fell and Seth barely managed to catch both it and the Pharaoh as the monarch crumpled like a broken doll.

Seth set the Puzzle down gently, trying to support Atem's limp body better in both arms. He checked Zorc wasn't going to attack them but the god was also frozen in place, the same pattern of shadowy lines emblazoned in his skin. And the god was changing, slowly dissolving into dust.

Then Atem stirred and Seth almost laughed with relief. "I knew it. I knew you would keep fighting, I just..."

Those empty eyes turned his direction, looking without seeing. Atem's expression was no longer wracked with pain but the phantom of it - like he knew something was badly wrong but not what. The Pharaoh managed to raise his arm, pushing wordlessly at his crown without being able to remove it. "You - you want me to -?"

Seth slid the crown off for him and recoiled. The golden Millennium eye that burnt when the king used magic had turned warped and dark, the centre of the shadows that snaked their way across his skin. "Atem - are you - what have you-?"

Atem's eyes lowered, then shut and he fell completely lifeless in Seth's arms. Seth heard a cracking noise next to them and looked down in time to see the same shadowy cracks fill the joins of the Puzzle. He reached down to pick it up -

\- it shattered into pieces.

With a final roar Zorc vanished and Seth turned quickly to Atem but it was too late, the Pharaoh's body was falling apart, falling into dust in his arms. Seth tried to lift him, hold him together but it was no use - the king had become dust and ash in seconds, sliding past Seth's arms and hands like he had never been there at all.

The priest gasped, clawing at his throat and started to punch the ground but the ground wouldn't give and

Seto was punching at his bed, yelling and gasping. He sat upright, taking in the room, Seto Kaiba's room in the present day. The adrenaline rush subsided, replaced with nausea pushing it'd way up his throat. He practically fell out if bed and rushed his way down the hall, stumbling blind to the bathroom to be sick.

As he retched over and over, he heard someone come into the room behind him.

"Seto, what's wrong?" Mokuba cried.

"How could he..." Seto muttered, his throat sore.

"What?"

"How could he do that to me?"


	15. Interlude 6

Interlude 6

Mokuba stayed with Seto the rest of the night. His older brother stopped being ill soon enough, but he was shaky and sickly pale afterwards, his skin ghastly white under the harsh lights of the bathroom. He breathed harshly in and out and his cheeks were flushed like he'd just been running hard. And he was noticeably trembling. After the repeated refrains of 'how could he do that to me?' Seto didn't say much, just that he had had an awful dream.

Later they laid side by side, as they had done when they were little. Mokuba swallowed hard before whispering, "Is this to do with him?"

Seto was so quiet Mokuba thought he had fallen asleep. But then he said, "You mean the Pharaoh?"

Mokuba was taken aback. "Don't you mean 'Atem'?"

"Didn't I say that?"

"No."

"Oh." Another pause. "Would you be mad if I said it was?"

Now it was Mokuba's turn to pause. He hadn't wants to ask for the longest time, but now he felt he had to. "Is this about something other than...just a duel?"

Seto didn't answer, didn't even reprimand Mokuba for calling it 'just' a duel, which was weirdest of all. Mokuba rolled over, turning his back on Seto. "I want my brother back," he said in a tiny voice, and had to bite his lip hard to stop the urge to break down in tears. "I just don't know what to do anymore."

There was a long, long silence. Mokuba had all but given up on the conversation when he heard Seto's soft whisper, "Neither do I."

\- -

The next day they all packed to return to Japan. Seto had apparently decided to tell Atem he was still suffering a headache, which could have been true but looked to Mokuba like a convenient way to avoid having to talk to Atem on the plane. In the end the silence wore Mokuba out and he decided to take a nap.

But the quiet was still there when they touched down back home again.

Seto retreated into his room or his tech, still citing illness. The Pharaoh was as lost as Mokuba and somehow even more worried, but when Mokuba asked what he was so fearful of the king wouldn't answer.

It got so bad that Mokuba was actually grateful to have a few classes he couldn't skip and when the time came to go home he didn't want to. Instead he walked the streets of Domino like he had done back when he was part of a gang, deep in thought.

And he ended up in front of a familiar building: the Mutou game shop. Mokuba stood, rooted to the spot. He hadn't seen the others since Kaiba's tournament, and he had barely gotten to talk to them then. And really, he hadn't talked to anyone about the craziness going on lately. He used to have chats with Kaiba about nearly everything - Kaiba Corp, other things that had happened that day... but his brother had been so distracted the past few months... and Mokuba had just tried to fool himself into believing that was what adulthood was: giving up having someone to talk to, even when you felt like screaming.

Suddenly the shop door opened and Yugi greeted him with a smile. "Mokuba! Hi."

"Uh. Hi."

Yugi looked around the street. "Are you alone? Oh, you just got out of school, didn't you?"

Mokuba nodded woodenly. Yugi looked at him with clear concern. "Want to come in for a bit?"

Mokuba hesitated.

"We can, you know, keep it from your brother, if that's what you're worried about."

"Um," he said, then cleared his throat. "OK."

Yugi beamed. "Great! I just got off a shift so I can make you a drink."

Mokuba followed him inside, the familiar game shop and Yugi's enthusiastic smile reassuring. The stock had changed since the last time he had been here - old fads replaced by the new, but the shop still displayed Duel Monsters front and centre like it always had. Yugi led him to the back. "Grandpa's taking a nap in the front room so we have the place to ourselves," he said.

"Sure. That's good."

Yugi led him through to a small kitchen and filled a kettle. "What's your poison? Hot chocolate? Tea?"

Yugi might think it was weird that Mokuba had inherited Kaiba's bad coffee habit at his age. He took a seat and just said, "Water will do."

Yugi laughed. "Don't tell me you're grown up already." Mokuba stuck out his tongue. They both laughed and Mokuba was struck with longing that it could be this easy at home. As Yugi prepared the drinks Mokuba asked, "How are things with you? You all graduated, right?"

"Yeah! Only just, though." He got another glass for Mokuba's water while the kettle boiled. "I'm working the shop part time, and the others have just started work."

"Where?"

"Honda is in his father's factory and Jonouchi started duelling tournaments. He's working odd jobs in between, though."

Mokuba nodded. Winning tournaments wasn't enough to live from, even if Jonouchi was regularly winning or placing each time. "What about Anzu?"

Yugi set down a glass of water in front of Mokuba with a bit of a sad look. "In America. She's going to be on Broadway!" But his cheer sounded a bit too forced.

"That must be a lot to get used to."

Yugi shrugged. "People leave sometimes. We always miss them." Just then the kettle boiled. "There it is! Let me just get a drink." He kept himself faced away as he poured it out and Mokuba looked down, taking a sip of his drink.

Yugi finished mixing his drink and took a seat opposite Mokuba. "So what's up? How's Kaiba doing?" Mokuba couldn't stop his face from falling. "Oh. That bad?"

"I just..." Mokuba tried to find the right words. "I thought things would be better after the tournament, but they're really not."

"Go on..."

"The whole obsession with the Pharaoh. It - it hasn't gone away like I thought it would." Mokuba hesitated. If he said much more, the cat would be out of the bag. Yugi looked at him.

"Go on. It's OK."

"It's just... I didn't know him as well as you did, but I did think of him as a friend. Especially after Duelist Kingdom. Before I was just mad - you know, because of how Seto was."

"The Penalty Game?"

"Right." He looked down, thinking it would be easier to keep talking if he didn't look at Yugi. "And I didn't have the full picture of where the Pharaoh was, or at least Seto never said if he knew. The idea of Atem returning..." He swallowed. "At first I was fine with it. I had missed him too, I'm glad he's - I'd be glad if he was back." He glanced up quickly but Yugi hadn't noticed anything. "But the longer this goes on, I just - I don't want the Pharaoh around. I want my brother to be well again." He buried his head in his hands. "And I feel awful."

There was a pause. Then Yugi said, in the most matter of fact voice possible, "That isn't awful."

"You - you think so?"

"Of course. When I duelled him it was obvious that he wasn't - well, isn't -"

"You can say it."

"In his right mind?" Yugi volunteered nervously.

"That fits..." Mokuba said gloomily. He took a big gulp of water and coughed as he swallowed wrong. "What do you think it's about?"

"Me?"

"Yeah. This whole thing with the Pharaoh. He said something weird at Battle City - something about beating the past - but I thought with the theme parks and all the new stuff we did, he was already-"

"Over it?" Yugi supplied. "It may not be that simple."

Mokuba looked down. Deep down he'd known as much. He hadn't wanted to think it was true.

"I think...Atem and Kaiba provided something for one another. Like motivation or something. I never really understood it, I still don't, but underneath everything Kaiba might consider Atem a friend." At the 'F' word Mokuba couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and Yugi laughed. "I know, I know. But that's just the feeling I get."

Mokuba thought back. Kaiba had been behaving differently lately. He'd let Atem go to Egypt without a duel first when he could have refused; it was _his_ private plane after all. And then when Mokuba had asked why he was crabby about the trip he hadn't mentioned duelling at all. Instead he had said, 'he can never do _anything_ for a _trivial_ reason, can he?'

Mokuba's fists clenched. "But if that's it, Seto will never be OK. He'll just keep chasing another victory, then another."

Yugi smiled suddenly, a sad smile. "I think he said the same thing, once."

Mokuba was distracted with the sudden urge to tell Yugi the truth, after all. "Yugi -"

"Sorry. What I was going to say was, I think Seto needs to figure it out for himself. If the tournament and everything that happened tired you out, you can tell him. If you're lonely, tell him that too." He finished off his drink and looked Mokuba in the eyes. "But I think he has changed, and I bet if you just hold on a bit longer, you'll see it."

Mokuba fiddled with his glass of water. "You think so?"

"Yup."

And he did; Mokuba could see he believed it. What Yugi could see that he couldn't, Mokuba wasn't sure, but he didn't doubt his sincerity. He smiled back. "Kaiba isn't the only one who's changed."

Yugi grinned. "I think we all have."

Mokuba drained his glass and stood. It had been over an hour already. "Thanks, Yugi. I'd better go."

"Sure. Come back anytime."

Mokuba nodded and headed for the door. Then he stopped. "I wanted you to know... I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I'm just - sorry." And he hurried out the door before the temptation to spill his secret got any worse. Maybe Seto's annoyance wasn't all that odd, after all. If he were Atem, he would have reconnected with Yugi straight away. As Mokuba headed out the door of the game shop, he kept turning it over in his mind. And the more he did the weirder it felt. And that made him wonder about something else, something that had never really occurred to him before: why hadn't the Pharaoh waited to say goodbye to him? And most impodtantly, why hadn't he waited to say goodbye to Seto?

A/N: An unexpected character appears! I found Yugi pretty hard to write tbh, but I hope I did OK. Getting near the end of the story too! Next time, more payoff back in Japan. As ever reads and reviews very much appreciated.


	16. Chapter 10

A/N: I was looking forward to writing this one, so hope it comes out OK! As ever, reads and reviews welcome. I'm saving special thanks for the last chapter but a thank you to everyone who reviewed so far! 

Chapter 10

The migraine feeling took a while to subside, but it was helped by Kaiba taking a few days to rest. He did a minimum of work, which was unusual for him and probably just resulted in the tiredness from the overwork catching him up, too. He suspected the Pharaoh was the same way after everything that had happened - Seto didn't see much of him except briefly at meals, and he didn't even try to force his way into Seto's room. The most he did was have Isono continually ask Seto how he was, and if Atem could help him.

Seto always said no. He didn't know what else to say.

Mokuba was the same, except he checked up on Seto through text. He couldn't tell if his little brother was still angry with him, but concern had won out either way for now. Given how near to Christmas it was now, Kaiba told him to dress it up like the two of them just needed some downtime after the tournament and take a few days off himself. And to give the staff some leeway with their leave, too.

This advice just alarmed Mokuba more, since he called Seto straight afterwards.

"Mokuba, I'm fine," he said when he picked up.

"I know you are," he said. "But I need to ask you for something."

"Anything."

Dead air filled the line.

"Mokuba?"

"Duel him. Duel him like you said you were going to."

"I will," Seto said.

"When? Tomorrow?"

"...I guess."

"Big brother, you have to promise me-"

"All right, all right. I'll duel him as soon as we're both up to it." It had occurred to him suddenly that he had no actual idea how Atem was doing. Maybe the spell had thrown him off too. But he could sense Mokuba wasn't satisfied with that answer. "Sometime this week, OK?"

"OK," Mokuba said, sounding small.

"What's wrong?"

"No, nothing." More dead air. "How is the Pharaoh doing? I... haven't checked up on him."

"Fine. I think."

"All right. Talk to you later?"

"Sure. Of course."

And Mokuba abruptly hung up.

\- -

Seto couldn't clear his head enough to settle down and get much work done, so he decided to go for a drive to clear his head. When he collected the keys to the limo from Isono, though, the man looked uneasy.

"Something wrong?"

Isono hesitated and then shook his head. He put the keys in Kaiba's hand. "Have a pleasant drive."

Seto frowned but took the keys anyway. He headed through the manor where the car had already been brought around for him. It was his favourite to drive, since the limo was mostly for business meetings on the go. But his sports cars... they were the best for speeding down the highway and leaving his problems in the dust, if only for now. He settled into the front seat, leaning back and listening to the engine purr. He hadn't done this in a long time, but he couldn't think of anything better to do right now.

And then the door opened and Atem got into the passenger seat.

Kaiba tensed up. "What are you-"

"I have to speak with you."

"I'm going for a drive."

"We can talk while you drive, can't we?"

Kaiba drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. Isono must have bloody tipped him off. He'd have to give him a long lecture on minding his own business when he returned. "I'd prefer to go alone. We can talk when I get back."

Atem folded his arms and settled into the leather seat. "Then have someone remove me from the car."

Seto ground his teeth. "That's not very becoming, Pharaoh."

Atem looked confused for a moment, then just turned and put his seat belt on. He gave Kaiba a challenging look. "You want me out? Throw me out."

"This is childish."

"Then let's go. Put your seat belt on already."

He growled and clicked his on, putting the car into drive and screeching into action with such force it was sure to leave tyre marks. He said nothing and Atem was content to watch him as he sped blindly through the streets of Domino until they came to a long stretch of empty highway.

"What do you want?" Kaiba grumbled. "I wasn't kidding that I wanted to be alone."

"You've been alone a lot lately."

Kaiba sped up, enjoying the feeling of the power of the acceleration at his command. "Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"

"No, Kaiba, I'm not. But I don't think this can continue."

"What?"

Atem didn't answer. When Kaiba glanced at him he caught Atem giving him an expectant look. "I'm not in the mood for games, Pharaoh. What do you want?"

He felt Atem studying him but kept his eyes on the road, his knuckles rigid on the steering wheel. The Pharaoh was sitting straight in the seat like he might pop the door and bolt at any second. He had his hands resting in his lap, neatly folded. Altogether he was perfectly regal and perfectly cold.

The he opened his mouth and said, "A duel."

Kaiba tensed. "Really?"

"Yes. Is that such a surprise."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"You went to the Afterlife so we could duel. I haven't made good on my end of the deal yet."

Kaiba took a deep breath. It didn't help. Something prickly was building in his chest, prickly and burning. "Did we... make a deal?"

"What?"

"You said a deal. Did we make one? I don't remember."

"Kaiba?"

"So, once I defeat you, Pharaoh, then what? Hmm?"

Atem looked like he didn't know what to focus on first. "All right, what is going on? What happened to you in Egypt?"

"Do we have to talk Egypt? I'm done with that."

"Something happened back there - after the ritual you started acting odd -"

"After the ritual? Really? That's when you think it was?"

"I don't know what you're -"

Kaiba sped up and Atem grabbed at the car door. "Kaiba, slow down."

"The space elevator, the tournament, all of that looked normal to you? You didn't see anything 'odd' about any of that?"

"What are you - no. You built an entire tower for Battle City!" Atem laughed with disbelief. "You've never done anything by halves. Why would getting a rematch be any different?"

Kaiba sped up further, biting his lower lip hard to keep himself from snapping at the monarch. He ignored Atem's look of alarm, grateful for the mostly empty highway.

So much power under his hands. Now he remembered why he used to drive so often when he was younger.

"Kaiba," Atem said, his name ground out in that familiar, chastising way. "You saw something, didn't you? You remembered something of Priest Seth's life."

"No, I didn't!" He swerved, changing lanes so violently Atem was thrown against the door. "How can I remember something that didn't happen to me?"

Atem straightened up in his seat. "Oh really? You never used to call me 'Pharaoh' so much before. My being here has weakened the seal - caused a disruption like she said-"

"So?" Kaiba hissed. "You want to go back before it gets worse?"

"That - that isn't the only reason," Atem said, looking completely at sea in the face of his rage. "I have duties, responsibilities - you know that."

"I know you're a damned fool!" He sped up again, pushing past 90mph. "It wasn't just the spell that tired you out when we got here, was it? All you do in the so-called Afterlife is work, isn't it?"

Atem hesitated a second too long. "I-"

"I knew it!" Kaiba changed lanes again, pushing it faster and faster. 94. 95. "You never change, do you, Pharaoh? All you do is run around for everyone else's sake! And what do you have to show for it? Nothing! You're not in control of your life even now!" He laughed bitterly. "And I guess duelling means nothing to you either! After everything I put on the line to beat YOU, you just let someone else take credit for your title. Like all OUR battles meant nothing! Like I'm supposed to replace you with someone else - go ahead with acting like you never even existed like the rest!"

Atem flinched and Kaiba could see he'd struck the right spot. But he didn't bite back, just took a deep breath and try contain his obviously rising anger. He spotted the speedometer and his eyes widened. "...Slow down, Kaiba."

But Kaiba wouldn't. Instead he accelerated, hitting 100 miles an hour. "What do you care? You're dead! You don't care about anything that happens to anyone living, do you?"

"That's not true!"

"You've even hidden from your 'partner'! It makes me wonder why I chased you in the FIRST PLACE!"

"Enough!" Atem yelled and the light of the Millennium Eye flared to life on his forehead, the car abruptly starting to slow down. Kaiba tried to accelerate again but he just slowed further and further until he was forced to drop into the slower lane.

They drove on in silence. Atem's power faded but Kaiba didn't try to speed up again. He just focused on the road ahead. He couldn't look at Atem. Not when he could feel all that anger burning into him. But Kaiba was grateful for it. Anything was better than a cool, collected nothing as a response.

"Don't talk about Yugi that way. You don't... you wouldn't understand why... I just know I have to leave him be."

"You-"

"I just. Know."

Kaiba ground his teeth, tried to contain himself. But even then, he could feel the high of his fury fading. He wanted it back. He wanted to yell until he was hoarse. It was the best thing he had felt in a long time. He glanced over at Atem. The mask had slipped and now he looked... small. Kaiba looked away.

Atem said softly, "I thought you wanted a duel. I thought I was giving you what you wanted."

They were coming back around into the city. Kaiba pulled into an empty car park. He left the engine running and they sat in a long, tense silence. He looked over at Atem. The Pharaoh was confused, but concerned as well. That hurt more than anything.

"I did," Seto said. He should at least admit that much. "I just - I don't understand it."

Atem was quiet, inviting him to continue. Seto took a deep breath. He hated conversations like this. He knew where he was with the yelling and the challenges.

"You were always going on about teamwork and unity," he said, not able to sneer the words like he wanted. Instead his voice was strained, his throat so tight the words would barely come out. "So why didn't you say goodbye to your friends?"

For a second Atem was confused. "But I did-" Seto couldn't stop himself from looking away and Atem stopped dead. "Oh." Kaiba stared out the window, gripping the steering wheel so hard his hands started to go numb. "Kaiba... I didn't... I thought..."

Kaiba shook his head, turning his head completely away to look out the window. This was the worst. His skin was crawling. Deep down part of him expected Atem to laugh, or rebuke him. But he didn't. They just sat in long, uncomfortable silence.

Kaiba tried to get his anger back.

He turned back to Atem, but right when he needed to sound strong his throat tightened again. "Did it ever occur to you," Seto said, his voice miniscule, "That maybe I just wanted a friend?"

Atem was staring at him, red eyes wider than he'd ever seen them before. "Seto..."

He shut the engine off, releasing the door locks. "Get out."

"Seto-"

"Out. I don't trust myself to drive with both of us in the car."

Atem opened the door and gave him one last regretful look before he climbed out. He stood back as Seto reversed and left Atem behind on the streets of Domino. He watched the Pharaoh get smaller and smaller in his rear-view mirror until finally, he disappeared from sight.


	17. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

A/N: I'm back! I'm pretty proud of one of the scenes in this one, so I hope you enjoy. This fic is getting near the end, so it should be a couple of chapters left at most. I was considering a sequel, so let me know if anyone would be interested in that. Also! Another surprise character shows up in this chapter.

Atem watched Kaiba's car peel off down the street and disappear round the corner, leaving him behind. He rubbed his arms and took a deep breath, sure if he'd had a heart it would have been racing. He couldn't remember the last time he'd fought with someone like that, even his previous debates with Kaiba had never really gotten that heated.

He started to walk just to have something to do, his thoughts racing along with him. Kaiba really considered him a friend? When had that happened? Of course, Atem had thought of him as a friend for a long time, but he never expected Kaiba to admit to himself that they were anything other than rivals.

But if Atem thought of him as a friend... why hadn't he waited to say goodbye?

He knew the surface reason well enough. After some debating with himself, he and Yugi had called Kaiba's business, then his house. Of course they had still been in America, but Yugi's name got them some email addresses to contact.

They sent Kaiba a mail, and there was no reply. Then it came time to go to Egypt, since they only had school break to go in. Yugi had told him they could wait longer, rebook flights even... but Atem had told him no.

That was the basic reason. But was it the whole story?

Atem rubbed his temples. Could digital ghosts get headaches?

OK, so he'd ticked off Kaiba. What else was new? Right now he needed to get off the street and back to the manor. He wasn't sure of the way back but he sped up regardless, trying to stay off the main streets. Luckily there was no one much around, but he couldn't guarantee that wouldn't change. In hindsight he should have had Kaiba drive him to the manor, then kick him out. But he was a little impressed Kaiba had been cool headed enough to know he was too angry to be around Atem.

He had changed a lot since they first met. Why couldn't have Atem just believed...

A droplets falling on his skin distracted him. He looked up at the grey sky. Rain was sure to follow, and Atem had no idea what would happen to Kaiba's tech if water got in it. He needed somewhere indoors, somewhere quiet and somewhere nearby.

He turned a corner and his eyes locked in on the museum.

There was a risk he might see one of the Ishtars there, but it was a chance he would have to take. He hurried towards it, grateful to see there was no entry fee. Sure enough, the second he passed the threshold drops of rain spattered the pavement, increasing in rhythm until it was a downpour.

Atem was fairly sure it was a weekday and sure enough the place was near empty inside, a few adults wandering around who looked too old to care about Duel Monsters. He passed the gift shop, not recognising any of the store staff within.

That was good. He was safe, if only for now.

Atem wandered around aimlessly for a bit, then spotted a sign.

_Egypt _-

And a another one underneath:

_New exhibition open!__  
_  
He drifted towards it, clicking his tongue at the hokey pillars at the entrance. The rest of the room was the same faux Egyptian architecture, but Atem could see at a glance that money had gone into trying to make it look convincing.

Feeling odd and not sure why, he looked around. The tablet was still there, but now there was a diorama of the Valley of the Kings, with cross-sections of the tombs on show. And one of them looked damnably familiar.

Atem quickly circle around it and knelt down, fearing what he would see. Like usual when he had a bad feeling, he was right.

It was his tomb: the plain, empty sarcophagus, even a tiny golden box sitting on the top of it. The bridge across the chasm, the traps... it was all here.

A caption caught his eye and he seized on it.

_The Tomb of the Nameless Pharaoh__  
_  
This tomb was recently discovered and is still being excavated, giving complete new insight to this period of the dynasty. Newly discovered objects are on display in this exhibit.

Atem flinched back like he'd been struck. How? How had this happened?

He looked frantically around, spotted a new display case against one wall.

The items in it were sickeningly familiar: weapons he had used in life, some jewellery, even books and gifts from other countries and keepsakes from his parents! Other things, too, like brushes he favoured for horses he kept. The mummy of a pet cat. And papyrus. Reams of it, ancient and faded and ink splotches from the hours he had spent slaving over them in life.

Looking over the collection he saw a sense of his life, how the shape of it looked from the outside.

A king who read voraciously, who kept good relations with other countries. Someone who liked animals. And a hard worker, knowledgeable in many areas of statecraft.

This exhibit had made him known to the world in a way he had never been before and never expected to be.

He leant against the display case, unsteady on his feet. But there was no escape. Next he spotted a slideshow running on a nearby screen. More facts passed in front of his eyes, a relentless parade of tidbits about his life - laws he might have passed, other politicians he had written to. Many commented that they were only guesses, but most of them were suspiciously near the truth.

Atem backed away, looking around with the sudden feeling he was being watched. He knocked into another display case, bumping himself on the corner. He recovered himself, turning, fearing what he would see.

This case was taller, only one object inside: a stand holding a single golden object.

His crown.

Atem pressed himself against the glass, taking in every detail. It was his crown: the original, not the copy created in the afterlife. The gold was weathered and sank stained, the jewels polished up but scratched. And in the centre was the Millennium Eye mark, with a bloody crack down it...

Spirit or not, Atem suddenly couldn't breathe. He backed away, tearing his eyes from the relic on show. It looked as old as he felt, as old as he was.

He tore his eyes from it, only to lay eyes on the sign on the plinth just below yet more explanatory text about his life:

_(Exhibit sponsored by Kaiba Corporation)_

Kaiba had done this.

Kaiba had done all of it.

"Why didn't you wait?" a voice said. Atem spun around and came face to face with Priest Seth. Atem felt like he'd been punched in the gut. He backed away, willing himself to get a grip. But Priest Seth just stared coldly at him. "Well? Why didn't you?"

"No..." Atem shook his head, shutting his eyes and willing the vision away. But when he opened them, Seth was still there. He carried on talking like Atem hadn't made a sound at all.

"That's a foolish answer and you know it," he snapped. "The purpose of your Court is to help you, not be protected by you. And now you've got yourself hurt. Do you realise how that makes us look? Do you realise it could have been worse?"

Atem shook his head. The memory of what he'd said came back to him, as if they were lines in a play.

"It's my purpose to protect you," he whispered, dizzy, "Nothing else matters if I can do that."

Seth heaved a deep sigh and rubbed his temples. He looked at Atem, a look in his eyes he had seen in Kaiba's.

"Did it ever occur to you," he said, quietly, "That people would grieve if you died?"

The words Atem had said were on the tip of his tongue - _there would be another king -_ but he kept them in. He shook his head, backing away. "No more," he said, grabbing hold of the display case to support himself. "I can't..."

He looked away, trying to find the exit but couldn't remember where he had come from. His eyes fell on the screen, still running that interminable slideshow.

The current sentence read:

_Upon the Pharaoh's death at a young age, new sources indicate that there was an unusual period of mourning not amongst the nobility, but amongst the commoners..._

Gods, he couldn't get away from it. He had to get out of here, rain or no rain..

Someone rested their hand on his shoulder. He turned, confused and desperate, and looked straight into the eyes of Isis.

No, not Isis.

Ishizu.

Atem tensed up and she let go immediately. "Hello, Pharaoh. Perhaps we should talk."

Ishizu showed him to a back room in the museum and made herself a coffee, asking, "Would you... Would you like a drink?"

"No, thank you. I don't... Can't drink."

They both took a seat at a table, Ishizu taking a deep drink of her coffee. The visions had faded, but he was still looking over his shoulder, checking for anything else that might appear.

"Are you all right?" she asked, not looking at him as she put sugar in her coffee.

"Fine, thank you. My memories just... Come back at random times. I still don't have all of them."

She nodded, face neutral like she had expected that. Her manner as a whole was shockingly cool. He remembered Isis having a tight control of her emotions, but this surprised him. Even Mani, who he never even met, had shown a little bit of shock when he had seen Atem standing in front of him. But she didn't look the slightest bit shocked.

"I suppose you're wondering about the exhibit," she said.

"W-well, yes," he said. "Sorry, are you not wondering how I'm here?"

"Because of Kaiba, isn't it?" she said, still calm. "I have to admit, I knew about the dig he was making at your grave site. I knew he was going to get the Puzzle." Off his shocked look, she just shrugged. "I never believed solving the Puzzle would achieve anything, and I figured eventually he would understand that and moved on."

"I think you may have underestimated him," Atem said. And Ishizu actually laughed, choking a bit on her coffee and putting the cup down on the table.

"You're not wrong," she said, her smile giving Atem a serious case of deja vue. Had he ever seen Isis smile like that? He must have...

She looked him up and down, scrutinsing him. "Can I ask how he did it?"

Atem nodded, unfastening his coat. He shrugged it off and turned his arm to face her, showing her the generator. Ishizu stood suddenly, reaching out with her hand. "May I?"

He wasn't sure what she wanted to do, but nodded anyway. Ishizu reached closer and closer, finally touching the back of his hand with her fingers. The touch was light, but it sent a shiver through him. It had been literal years since anyone in the living world had touched him, especially this kind of touch - cautious, almost intimate.

Then she surprised him by raising her hand to touch his cheek and his bangs. Her expression was one of curious investigation, but then her eyes locked with his and she blushed, yanking her hand away.

"Forgive me my forwardness, my Pharaoh, I was just-"

"No, it- it's all right. I can understand how odd this must be." He shrugged back into his coat. He cleared his throat. "So, about the exhibit...?"

"Yes." She cleared her throat too. "I'll be honest with you, Pharaoh... I made a deal of sorts with Seto Kaiba."

"A deal?"

"Yes. My family and I would look the other way with him digging up the Puzzle. While we were talking about that, he promised to give funds for us to find and excavate your tomb."

"You _wanted _to excavate my tomb? Why? Didn't serving me cost you all enough of your lives?"

"Well, Pharaoh, it-"

"Atem. Please."

"...Atem," she said, looking supremely uncomfortable. "To be honest, what motivated us most was the money. Our schooling was a little - inconsistent, since we lived underground for so long, so we really needed _something _to just tide us over for a while, and discovering an entire forgotten reign was the most lucrative thing that any of us could think of straight away-"

"Ishizu, it's all right. I understand. In fact, I'm glad you could get something back. You served me faithfully for far too long."

She still looked uncomfortable. "I appreciate that, Pharaoh. At the time we thought it would be doing something good for you, too... We hadn't come up with a way we could stage a 'discovery' of your name, but we thought we could at least fill in the holes about your reign. Most of it came from items the Puzzle was buried with, since there was no body in the tomb..."

"I see... And where did Kaiba come into that?"

"What do you mean?"

"He agreed to the exhibit if you would let him dig up the Puzzle, right?"

"What? No." She looked at him, confused. "I apologise, Your Majesty, I should have worded that more clearly. We did agree to look the other way while he dug up the Puzzle, but he didn't make the money dependent on that. He was going to give the money anyway, once he heard the idea."

"But...what?"

She looked even more confused at his confusion. "We ran into each other when he was organising the dig. He knew he would have to clear it with us eventually. The money just came up when we mentioned our idea for the excavation. I already had links with the museum, but Kaiba's involvement just gave us a shot in the arm."

"So... If you weren't agreeing to keep silence in exchange for the money, why did Kaiba give it to you?" Atem said, knowing he didn't want to hear the answer.

Ishizu looked him straight in the eye, an almost incredulous look in her eyes. "For you, Pharaoh. So what you did, who you were, would be remembered."

"He... He said that?"

She shifted in her seat, getting more annoyed with his confusion. "Of course. In fact, I think I remember him saying something like," - and she stopped to do a near pitch perfect impersonation of Kaiba's tight, growly delivery, " '_I don't understand it, but he kept going on and on about his memories during Battle City. If he really was some big shot king, people should know about it.' _"

Atem leant back in the chair, rubbing his temple. He should have been trying to restrain his emotions, but he was tired and worn out. How had he messed this up so badly? All he had wanted at the time was to do the best thing for everyone, and he thought that that was him leaving. In the long run, he had thought things would work out. They would remember him, sure, but they would all move on to bigger, better things, and the craziness he brought with him would be in the past...

Ishizu was watching him uncertainly. She finished her coffee and put it down on the table, toying with the edge of the cup. After a few seconds she cleared her throat. "Pharaoh, for however long you intend to stay... It might be wise to give the museum a wide berth in the future. As far as I know none of your friends know about the exhibit yet, but Domino isn't that big a city. If you want to keep your secret a little longer, you should refrain from coming here again." She stood and dropped the cup. "Now that I think of it, what made you come here?"

"It...wasn't intentional. Kaiba was driving around the city, and..." He trailed off, not wanting to get into all of it. Ishizu gave him a long look like she already knew what had happened. Atem stood and bowed to her. "Forgive me, Ishizu. I'll be more careful in future."

"Pharaoh, please don't..."

Atem straightened up, running a hand through his hair. He checked out the nearest window and saw the rain had almost stopped. He had to get back and talk to Kaiba.

There was something he had been denying for years, something he hadn't wanted to admit to himself until Kaiba came along. And if he had any hope of making it up to Kaiba - to Seto - he couldn't deny it any longer.


	18. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

A/N: Special thanks to everyone who reviewed! Special mention to Lalalei and Tropicalia Sonata who reviewed every chapter! Apologies for taking so long to write the next chapter, the finale chapter(s) after this one shouldn't be as long coming...

After Kaiba forced Atem out of the car, he peeled off, not slowing until he had made it around the corner. He was tempted to peel off onto the highway and speed all the way back home, but he knew that wouldn't help. No, he wanted to do something he'd been disallowed to do by Gozaburo, something simple - to go back to his room, turn off all the lights, and wallow in his own misery for a while.

Not something a winner would do. Certainly not something a _Kaiba _would do.

But to hell with it. He was doing it anyway.

He was lucky enough not to run into anyone on the way back, and he headed straight into the manor and up the stairs. God, he was exhausted. When the hell had he last had a fight with someone like that? At the worst times in his life, he and Mokuba hadn't been on good terms, but Seto had never unloaded on him like that. He'd just been...cold. Cold to him, cold and dismissive.

As the adrenaline from the fight faded, something unexpected happened.

Kaiba smiled.

It was small, tiny even.

He still felt the urge to punch the nearest wall or scream into the first pillow he could lay hands on, but he felt something else, too.

Hope.

This whole friendship thing...it was getting harder to dismiss it all as total nonsense. Sure, he'd have to be pushing fifty before he'd ever volunteer to hang out with the mutt, but still...saying the F word out loud was something he'd never thought he'd do.

And ripping into someone like he had Atem? Yeah, the idiot had it coming.

But Kaiba had never cared about anyone outside of Mokuba to feel like screaming at them before.

And if he had changed this much already, maybe there was hope.

But hope for what, he had no idea. Not yet.

Kaiba made it into his room without running into Isono or anyone else. He didn't punch a wall or scream into a pillow, but he did take the rare privilege of taking of his jacket, tie and shoes and dropping himself down on his bed. He never got to do this, either, especially during the day.

Atem had really messed up everything his life was supposed to be. Trodden on everything he understood about life, winning...and then he had just disappeared. Anyone would hate him for it.

It was cool here in his room, the curtains fitted perfectly to block out the light during the day. He could probably doze off, if he wanted to...

Seto leant back into his pillows, feeling all the muscles in his body unclench. Maybe it would help him to do this more often. Take breaks during the day, even if just once a month. Nowadays it was more like once a year.

He rolled onto his side, letting his eyes drift shut as he thought. Sleep was tempting, a deep one instead of just a power nap. But if those damned dreams were to return...

Seto turned onto his back, propping his head up with pillows. He shouldn't be liable to drift off like this. And anyway, he needed to think.

Now he was calming down, he could start to see that from Atem's perspective, his outburst had maybe...come out of nowhere? He had told Atem that he wouldn't go without a duel, that much was true, but...at the same time, he'd always thought Atem understood that it was more than that. They were rivals on a road of battle. They had pushed one another to greater and greater heights, and Atem had seemed to know that.

Up until he left, anyway.

Then he realised Atem had been lying about all that. Lying about valuing his friends more than anything, lying about the power of unity even Kaiba had had to recognise. He threw it all away, just to be someone else's puppet, _yet again. _

And he hadn't even waited to say goodbye to Kaiba, after everything they had been through.

If he tried to detach his anger from the thought - just for a second - and think about it from Atem's perspective, he could only assume that...maybe he had thought Kaiba wasn't coming?

Kaiba hadn't emailed Yugi back about it until the last second, so it stood to reason that maybe they hadn't seen his reply when they were in Egypt.

But that still left him with the same frustrating question: _why? _Why hadn't Atem just assumed he would make time to come? Did Atem think that little of him?

Kaiba groaned, mashing his face into the pillow so he could curse a blue streak. Now he remembered why he didn't bother with having 'friends'. Because it led to frustration and annoyance. He certainly hadn't had much of that when he'd been on his own, that was for sure.

For the first time in years, Seto felt like a nap was in order. He needed a break from all this nonsense.

Suddenly there was a soft knock at the door. "Seto?" Mokuba said softly. "Are you in there?"

Seto sat up, tiredly running a hand down his face. He debated not answering, but couldn't bring himself to hide. "Yeah. I'm here."

"Are you OK?"

When Seto wasn't sure how to answer them, Mokuba added softly, "Can I come in?"

"Yeah...sure."

Mokuba opened the door a crack, looking almost alarmed to see Seto sitting on the bed, almost fully dressed. "Are you not feeling so good?"

"No, I...I'm all right, I just..." He stopped again, seeing on Mokuba's face that he already knew something was up. "I...had a fight with Atem."

Mokuba nodded, not remotely surprised. He perched on the end of the bed. "About what?"

He weighed up how to answer. He didn't think it was a good idea to bring up the dreams he'd been having. They were awful head-trips and he was still Kaiba Seto, brother of Mokuba, before he was any ancient priest in a past life.

"About him," Seto said. "How _stupid _he is sometimes."

Mokuba laughed suddenly. "Yeah, he is that. Specifically though?"

"Well, specifically..." Seto found himself smiling unexpectedly, caught off guard by Mokuba's reaction. "I don't know, just...how he left without waiting. How he runs around never doing anything that actually benefits him. I mean, did he have no interest in life when he _was _here?"

"How do you mean?"

"He did everything in service of winning whatever tournament was going. We didn't see him a lot outside of those, did we? But then he just gives up his titles to _Yugi_ and takes off? And I'm supposed to perpetuate this lie to other people that Yugi is my rival, and not him? I could really give a rat's what other people think, but Atem certainly does."

"Maybe he thought that couldn't be helped?"

"That's just it! Oh, it couldn't be helped, destiny this and destiny that. He just frees himself from having to choose for himself, then he just dropped this life when he was done!"

Mokuba looked a little confused. "...And dropped you at the same time, right?" he asked softly.

"Yeah." He swallowed hard. "Mokuba, I know I promised you I would duel him this week and send him back, but-"

"That isn't actually what you want, is it?" he said softly. There wasn't the slightest bit of surprise in his voice, or his eyes. Seto could see in them: he already knew. He understood. But he was waiting for Seto to say it. For Seto to understand it, too.

"Mokuba-" Seto paused, taking a deep breath and running a hand through his hair. "I love you, and I know I haven't always done right by you. I've been backsliding on that lately."

"It's OK," Mokuba said softly, and Seto's heart twisted when he added, "I'm pretty much old enough to take of myself now, anyway."

"Saddling you with the company, though, that wasn't entirely fair. I just assumed I could handle everything, like usual."

"Mm-hmm?"

"But I..." He swallowed, the words physically painful when he tried to force them out, "I had actually...made a friend. My second friend ever, aside from you. And I couldn't admit I didn't want to lose that - lose him. I have to know if our rivalry - friendship - meant that little to him." Another deep breath. "I...don't care all that much if we duel again, or if we don't. Because I might have made him think that was all I cared about because of how it's been...til now."

"All right," Mokuba said calmly, then suddenly grinned and punched him on the shoulder. "So why don't you tell him that?"

He got up, giving him a friendly salute on the way out. "Once you've figured it out, let's all have takeout together, OK? I didn't eat that well in Egypt and you owe me one."

"You got it, VP."

And Mokuba headed out the door, his footsteps disappearing down the hallway.

Seto laid back again, suddenly exhausted. No meetings for today. Just a long-deserved nap.

He wouldn't be able to get anything done until he'd resolved this thing with Atem, anyways.

Seto must have drifted off again, because he woke to another soft knock on the door. He blinked, rubbing his eyes and looking out the window. It was dark and it had been raining. Shit - what would happen to the equipment on Atem's arm if he was out in the rain-

He sat up, swinging his legs over the bed and realising the door was still open a crack.

Atem was standing there, bone dry. Seto let out a breath, about to greet him when he remembered their argument.

Atem wasn't meeting his arm. He was looking at the floor, an ashamed expression on his face.

"I need to speak with you," he said, softly.

"You're damn right you do," Kaiba said, without thinking. Atem looked up, surprised, a half-smile on his face.

Seto had that feeling he used to get when he was younger before board meetings, a feeling like he was about to jump into the void with nothing to save him or slow him if he fell.

But he also had a new feeling, deep down in his gut: a feeling that things would be all right, no matter what happened.

Because he was ultimately a different person now, whether Atem stayed or not.

Kaiba Seto might finally break past the last part of the cycle he had been stuck in.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Dedicated to my friend TropicaliaSonata for her birthday.

This chapter ran a bit long and a bit talky, but I hope it came out OK! I may revisit in a sequel someday (might not be for awhile since this took like a year to finish), so let me know if you'd be up for that :)

Special thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Prison of the Soul: Final Chapter

For a long moment, Atem just stood awkwardly in the doorway, looking deeply discomfited. For once in his life, he didn't seem able to meet Kaiba's gaze. "I, uh," he said. Hesitation. Another unusual sound for the former - or, Kaiba supposed, current-but-in-the-afterlife - monarch. "I'm not really sure where to start. This isn't really a thing I've done...that often."

"Too busy lecturing everyone else?" Kaiba said, raising an eyebrow. Maybe the snark helped, because Atem finally managed to look him in the eye.

"Something like that. Or that - that's part of it. I mean, you of all people would know what that's like."

"Yeah..." Kaiba wasn't entirely sure what he was referring to this time. "You've actually kind of lost me there, Pha- Atem. Why don't you just start from the start?"

"The start. OK." Atem bit his lip, looking askance around the room. He spotted a photo of Kaiba and Mokuba on the dresser. "Do you mind if I-?"

Kaiba shrugged his acquiescence. Atem moved over to the dresser, looking at the photograph without picking up the frame. "You and I are kind of similar in that regard. I mean, I know you and Mokuba were much, much more vulnerable and disadvantaged than I ever was, I meant-"

"Say what you're thinking. You know I'll correct you if I think you're full of it."

Atem looked over at him, relief clear in his eyes. The snark definitely was helping. Kaiba moved his legs over the edge of his bed and rested his hands on his knees, making it clear Atem had his full attention.

"Responsibility," he said. "That's what I meant. You were responsible for Mokuba and Kaiba Corp from a young age, just as I was responsible for Egypt." He clasped his hands and Kaiba was struck with how regal it looked. At all times, Atem's posture was formal, trained. Clearly some things persisted, regardless of whether he had once lost his memories. "I'm no saint, Kaiba. I'm used to putting my viewpoint first and believing that is righteous, and that isn't entirely from my being a leader. But I've always tried to put my _needs _second, behind that of my country."

He stared off, pensive. Seto dare not interrupt him. He was smart enough to know what Atem was telling him was not something he shared often...if he ever had before.

"It became such a habit I didn't know how to separate Atem from 'the Pharaoh' anymore. And to be honest, it made me feel good. I felt good that, aside from Bakura, I was able to keep Egypt safe, make her more prosperous than before. She became the centre of my every thought, whenever I was hurt, whenever I hurt others." He rested his hand on the dresser, looked away. "It's...hard to explain, but the Pharaoh is simultaneously the most privileged and vulnerable of any noble in the palace. I knew I would never go hungry, not like some of my people would, but every day was a game to keep myself alive." He stopped, suddenly self-conscious.

"Go on," Seto prompted.

"I apologise, I got... off topic. I suppose what I'm trying to say is - all of my existence was bent around being the Pharaoh, being what they needed me to be." His hand fidgeted on the dresser, betraying his discomfort. "My inner circle were all people who served Egypt with me, but even though I considered them all my friends, I -" He took a deep breath, shoulders hunching with the weight of the words. "I never thought they thought the same of _me_. They needed me to be the Pharaoh, to not burden them if I was worried or tired. 'Atem' was locked away, long before I even forgot that name."

Kaiba stared at him. This revelation didn't seem so momentous to him, just a natural consequence of everything. Seto had certainly felt the same about his most trusted employees. But Atem looked ridiculously guilty about it, glancing nervously at him as if expecting judgment.

"Go on, Atem. I'm listening."

"Right. Well. Years passed and I started to realise I had a destiny unlike the Pharaohs before. I was Horakhty's weapon against Zorc, powerful but effectively a pawn to fix what the creation of the Millennium Items broke. And it seemed only right, but it meant in the end the only purpose of my life was to die."

He said it so matter-of-factly, Seto couldn't help but hiss, "That's sick."

Atem looked over and smiled. It was a sad, sad smile. "Your other self said that, too. Not exactly in those words, though."

Kaiba flinched back. Normally he would have denied this so-called past life, but when he had been having nightmares of his friend's death for weeks, it felt a little silly to keep doing it.

"He'd do that a lot...actually." Atem looked down again. "Whenever he thought I was reckless, or putting myself in unnecessary danger, he'd even call me an idiot. Others at court thought it was because he was my rival, I allowed him to take liberties when addressing me." Atem chuckled, fondly. "I thought that too. Or I wrote it off as him hating royal blood being shed for commoners, things like that. He challenged me so often I even feared he had designs on my throne, at one point..."

Kaiba did look up at that. Atem looked back, shame radiating from him.

"You thought I - the priest - might try and kill you?" he said, appalled.

"I'm...not proud of it," he said, leaning into the dresser and lowering his guard. "I knew some of the elders at court preferred you, because I was making reforms that favored the commoners that scared them. I knew you wanted to best me in combat. I didn't know how far you might go." He moved his hand like he wanted to touch the Puzzle that wasn't there. "My bond with the Egyptian Gods - with Horakhty - helped keep me alive." He looked away again, folding his arms across his body. "But then...Priest Seth _demanded _I find another way to stop Zorc. He told me once that Egypt was not worth my life. I didn't realise why he wanted to save me."

"Because he was your true friend," Seto said, the F word coming a little easier to him. "It said as much on that rock."

Atem nodded, thoughtful. "Then it happened again. After I was sealed, I lost everything but an impression of who I was. And when Yugi freed me, I was...not happy, but I had...purpose again. As his protector, you know? And then the protector for all of his friends, too." He stared off into the distance.

"Just like old times?" Kaiba asked, trying to keep him talking. Atem chuckled.

"Something like that." He looked Kaiba dead in the eye, the shame seeming to choke him again. "I really did think of Yugi and the others as my friends, some of the best friends I've ever had. But I couldn't escape the thought that they needed me for what I could do _for _them, not what I could be _with _them. Even though they came to help me and I was grateful, I couldn't help the thought that... In the end, they needed me to go. To stop getting in the way of their lives. So when they told me I could go back to the Afterlife and Yugi wouldn't be in any more danger because of me, how could I not?"

Kaiba couldn't help but be aware of a big omission in this part of the story. He swallowed, and said, "What about me?" in an embarrassingly tiny voice.

Atem took a deep breath in. "You were different, Kaiba. Just like Priest Seth, you challenged me. Called me an idiot when you felt like it. But more than that, you became the only friend I had that I...that I thought I mattered to, independent of how much Yugi mattered."

Kaiba frowned. "You mattered more. You know that."

Another guilty look. Atem nodded. "But then even you... I thought you only needed me for the duels, for the greater and greater challenge we gave one another. A function, once again, and not a person."

Kaiba stood. Atem didn't notice. Now he was talking a mile a minute. "So when we were getting ready to go to Egypt and we didn't hear back from you straightaway when Yugi emailed, I just assumed that you were - you were _done. _Done with it all, with me, maybe at peace since you and Mokuba had a new dream to chase. I didn't want to hurt you by leaving, I just - I wasn't expecting you to _care. _And when you showed up and started talking about duelling, I thought - nothing's changed. Nothing's changed..."

The guilt and shame had turned to a thousand-yard stare. Atem didn't even seem to see him as he spoke. "I thought maybe I had - I had gone my entire 3,000 year-long life without ever having a real friend. So long as I was protecting someone...or fighting something...it would be all right...that's what I thought..."

Shame had turned to humiliation and sadness. Seto watched him, deeply uncomfortable. He knew this, all too well. Except for him, the only substitute that had worked for a long, long time was being the victor in everything he had done.

Atem had disrupted that for him.

Maybe Seto could repay the favour.

"Atem," he said, folding his arms. "Look at me."

Seto could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He'd definitely overestimated himself with regards to this friendship thing. He had no idea what was the right thing to say here. How did the friendship squad _do _this on a daily basis?

Atem looked at him, an utterly wretched look in his red eyes. Seto took a deep breath. He knew just what to say.

"You're an idiot," Seto said.

Atem blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Yeah, you should be." Kaiba raised an eyebrow and stared him down. "All that baggage - I get it, but it's - it's stupid. Monumentally stupid. All those people who followed you, they weren't doing it because of what you do but what you _are. _They want to be friends with you because you make them believe in how powerful friendship is. God, you've even got me invested in your stupid bullshit."

The faintest of smiles started on Atem's face. "'S not bullshit..."

"This friendship thing - it's about more than what you can do or be for someone," Seto continued, hardly believing the words coming out of his mouth. "I don't have the right words to fix this, except - except - stay."

Atem's jaw dropped. "I'm sorry?"

Kaiba took a deep breath. "Stay. I - I'm trying to change. For good. But what about you? You go back, nothing changes. Everyone expects you to go back to being the ruler of the Afterlife, or whatever the hell you do, right?"

"Right..."

"So don't do it. Say, to hell with it." Kaiba grabbed him by the shoulders, Atem's eyes getting wider by the second. "Stay here longer. Not to duel - though I want one eventually - but to live. Challenge me, educate me, do whatever the hell you want - have a life of your own."

"I... I'll have to go back eventually..."

"Sure. If you must. But you can travel _here again, _don't you get it? Most politicians take breaks, you can too." Kaiba let him go, picking the photo up from the dresser. "I know what it's like to have people depending on you - lots of them. But nowadays I have the structure of Kaiba Corp built so that I retain control, but Mokuba and I can have a work-life balance when we need it." He held the photo out to Atem. "Can you say the same?"

Atem hesitated, then took the picture in his hand. "I'm sorry," he said, looking Kaiba in the eye, his old spark returned. "For what I put you through."

Kaiba shrugged. He didn't want to admit how much weight he felt lifted off his shoulders. "Call it even," he said. "I could've - gotten in touch sooner. Not assumed."

"Guess we're both idiots?" Atem said, smiling wryly.

"Just this once. I guess." Kaiba smirked at him, but he still hesitated. "So, what do you think? We really get this system up and running, we could revolutionise people's understanding of this dimension! Don't you see it? We have a world to change."

Atem laughed. "You never change, Kaiba." He looked down at the photo, at young Seto and Mokuba staring nervously out, no idea what was to come in the near future. Standing in a room in his manor with the spirit he had basically kidnapped from the afterlife using his technology, Kaiba's head spun with the thought of how far he had come.

And then Atem looked up, his customary confident smirk back in place. "Let's get to it," he said.


End file.
